


Light and Darkness

by EricaX



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Digimon Tri AU, Digimon Tri/Digimon 02 AU, Digimon partners - Freeform, Digital World, F/M, M/M, combination of Tri and 02
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 17:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 34,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17585252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EricaX/pseuds/EricaX
Summary: Three years after defeating Malomyotismon, strange things are starting to happen in Odaiba. The Gate to the Digital World has been closed for nearly as long and each day that goes by means the Chosen Children are getting closer and closer to adulthood. But now with the Digital World once again in danger due to some villains from their past, they may have to battle with themselves and their personal lives to figure out how to help.





	1. An Interuption of Peace

**Author's Note:**

> This is not be beta-ed. I apologize for any and all grammatical errors. I plan to go back through at a later date to fix any.Also, this is the first Digimon fic I've written since 2007! That's a looong time. Enjoy!

Light and Darkness  
Fandom: Digimon 02/Tri 

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The middle aged technician of the South Kyoto Power Plant yawned largely and loudly as he leaned back in his chair. He rubbed at his eyes.  
The guy beside him scowled. "Don't start with that! It's barely six o'clock and we have until 2 AM, man!" 

The first guy winced and glanced at his companion sheepishly. "Eh, sorry. Just knowing that this shift is going to be long and boring is getting me tired though. I mean, it's not the full on midnight shift, sure, but it might as well be. I mean, nothing happens around here." 

"Listen, I told ya when you took the job, that it was going to be boring. I warned ya. We just sit here and file paperwork, maybe a few adjustments here and there, but nothing much" drawled the second guy. 

The two of them were wearing green work uniforms with badges that stated their names. The first one was Makato and the second guy was Liam.  
Makato sighed. "It doesn't help that its a beautiful gorgeous day outside without a cloud in the sky! I'm missing out on a wonderful day to be outside! At least if there was a thunderstorm or something, this place could be interesting--" 

"Shh! Don't talk like that! You've no idea what you're sayin'! You're new here, so you don't know how bad it can be when all the power goes out due to the weather. It's madness! Trust me, the last thing you want a is nasty thunderstorm!" groused Liam as he propped his feet up on the desk and reclined back in his chair. 

Makato sighed and glanced at the many screens that were in front of them. They were all showing signs of perfectly running systems. All the weather feeds showed clear skies and bright sun. 

Except for one. 

Makato blinked and sat up correctly in his chair. Liam had closed his eyes and looked to be falling asleep despite his earlier scolding for Makato not to do so.  
"Is that a red cloud?" 

Liam ignored him. 

Makato watched the security screen that overlooked the large parking lot of the power plant. The angle allowed a decent view of the skyline to be seen and in the middle of the sky was what appeared to be a red fluffy cloud. "Hey, Liam! Check this out!" 

"Stop pestering me! Nothing is out there! You're just trying to keep me from dozing off cause I yelled at you for yawning!" grumbled his coworker. 

Makato watched as the said red 'cloud' began to grow larger in size. His eyes widened as he watched the once clear blue sky slowly darken as more red-tinted clouds began to form. Hues of purple and black began mixing into the redness as little spurts of electricity began shooting throughout the growing cloud mass. 

"Umm...Liam, you're REALLY gonna wanna see this!" insisted Makato. 

Liam opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the emergency alarms started going off. Both men jerked in surprise and bolted upright into a standing position; their chairs falling over in their haste. 

"What the hell--!" exclaimed Liam in panic. 

"I told you!" yelled Makato over the blaring sound of the alarm. "Something weird is happening! Some kind of electrical storm is forming over top of us!" 

Liam, still having not looked at the screens, shook his head. "Nonsense! There must be a faulty glitch or something in the system!" 

Before allowing Makato to argue further, Liam took off to the main room where several other plant workers were frantically trying to get the situation under control. 

"I don't understand! The power grids suddenly started going haywire! The voltage readings are escalating like crazy! I can't stop it! I'm trying to override the systems manually and nothing!" shouted out on the men at the many computers. 

"We have to get these grids under control or this whole place could explode with that kind of power surge!" shouted someone else. 

Liam and Makato just stared around them in confusion. Everything had been just fine moments ago. 

Unbeknownst to them, the clouds in the sky outside continued to thicken and blacken as more electricity and currents flew out of it. Lightning bolts began striking down on the power plant's grounds, nearly colliding with the building itself and hitting several cars in the process. 

All the men in the plant flinched at the great claps of thunder the bolts were causing outside as the winds picked up. 

It was then that the computers screens went black. 

"What happened to the computers!?" demanded one of the men. 

There was a moment as they all watched the screens, waiting to see what to do next. The alarms were still blaring. 

It was then that letters started being typed onto the screen, as though someone was typing them on the keyboard. 

No one was touching the computers as all the men were now standing and staring in terror at the screens. 

'LIGHT. KINDNESS. COURAGE. MIRACLES. KNOWLEDGE. FRIENDSHIP. HOPE. LOVE. SINCERITY. RELIABILITY. MIRACLES. LIGHT. KINDNESS. COURAGE. MIRACLES. KNOWLEDGE. FRIENDSHIP. HOPE. LOVE. SINCERITY. RELIABILITY.' 

The words just kept repeating over and over and over again until they covered every computer screen in the plant. 

"What does this mean?" Makato whispered the question on everyone's minds. 

It was then a shadow appeared over top of the power plant, looking like a robed figure with menacing eyes. 

Twelve lightning bolts came shooting down on the power plant at the same time, resulting in the whole place to explode from the blast, leaving it to be a burning mass of fire and smoke. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The egg shaped alarm clock starting going off, blaring its little buzzer loudly and intrusively. 

Taichi Yagami groaned loudly and sluggishly from where he was buried under the tangled sheets of his bed. The alarm clock continued to go off even as Taichi limply raised his hand to reach out to try to shut it off. When his hand met nothing but air, he groaned again and just let it hang off the side of the bed. 

"Oni-chan! Time to wake up!" came Hikari's voice from outside of his room. She must have already been up and eating breakfast in the kitchen, thought Taichi dryly. 

He turned around and tried to find another comfortable spot to get another few minutes of sleep, ignoring the blaring alarm clock completely. He's slept through worse, he supposed. 

It was then that his computer on the other side of the room on his desk made a chirping noise before the screen went white. Had Taichi been more awake and lucid, he would have known the computer was shut down and otherwise should not have had a white screen. 

LIGHT. KINDNESS. COURAGE. MIRACLES. KNOWLEDGE. FRIENDSHIP. HOPE. LOVE. SINCERITY. RELIABILITY. MIRACLES. 

The words started typing themselves on the screen repeatedly; all the while the computer was making strange chirping and clicking noises. 

Even over the sound of the alarm clock, Taichi could sense that something was off. Blearily, he raised his head up and away from his pillow and squinted over to his computer. Seeing that the screen was white and had words all over it caused him to blink and push himself up into a sitting position. Just as he was about to stand up though, the computer went back to black; as though it had never turned itself on at all. 

"Huh?" 

He stared at the computer. He'd been sure he's seen something on the computer. He could also sworn he saw some familiar words on it. Like the word 'Courage'. 

"TAI!! GET OUT HERE!" came Hikari's voice. "We're gonna be late for school!" She was using her 'don't mess with me' voice. 

Snapping out of his sleepy thoughts, Taichi started grumbling and changing out of his pajamas. "Alright, alright!" he groused as he opened his bedroom door. "I'm up!" 

 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"You know, onii-chan, one of these days, I'm not going to be around to help you get up in the morning. And you know mom and dad are always either at work or out of the house before we are" Hikari was saying conversationally as they made their way down the sidewalk to their school. 

Taichi yawned loudly and rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. What can I say? I'm not a morning person." He waved to some students from his class. "Just what are you trying to say though?: He looked to his sister. "It's not like you'll be moving out any time soon and I have no plans to, meaning its not something I have to worry about any time soon." 

"Oh?" responded Hikari teasingly. She held her book bag behind her back with both hands and gave her brother a knowing side look. "You mean you're not moving in with Koushiro any time soon? With the way you're always spending the night at his house one would think otherwise." 

Taichi scoffed in an attempt to hide his embarrassment as they rounded the corner and walked towards the school's main doors. "I don't know what you're talking about." The two of them stopped once they were inside since they now had to go separate ways."Oh, hey. You're coming to my soccer match this afternoon, right?" 

Hikari frowned and guilt was all over her face. "I told you, Tai, I have a birthday party to go to after school." 

Taichi deflated, his shoulders falling. "Oh.....I forgot." 

Trying to cheer him up, Hikari added. "But don't worry! I'm sure everyone else can make it!" 

Taichi gave her an unsure smile, waving to her as he started heading to his class. "Yeah. I guess so. See ya later!" 

Hikari said her farewell before walking away as well. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

 

In one of the many secluded hallways on the second floor of the school, two students were currently lip locked; trying to enjoy the privacy while they could before the warning bell rang. 

"We really should stop..." said the taller teen, though his voice implied he wanted to do anything but stop. 

"Hmmm....But this is so much fun" replied the other one in a husky voice that sent shivers down the taller teen's spine. 

"Dai, please...." 

Another kiss on the mouth from the shorter teen. 

"Come on, I have to sit through classes all day then play a soccer match before I'll probably get to do this again with you. You don't realize how hard that'll be to wait." Daisuke Motomiya finally pulled back reluctantly. His face held nothing but fondness for the boy genius, Ken Ichijouji. The two of them just stared at each other, lost in each other's eyes.

"Oh, you poor thing" crooned Ken. He reached down his bag which had been forgotten at his feet. He gave Daisuke a small peck on the cheek before stepping past him. "Come on then. Off to class we go."

Nothing had to be said. "Fiiine" Daisuke sighed at length. He pulled away from where he was still leaning on the wall, having practically had Ken pinned against it not moments before. He followed Ken, catching up to him and wrapping an arm around the other boy's shoulders. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

 

The sun was shining brightly around lunch time. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the birds were chirping out in the school's courtyard where many students were having their lunch, preferring to eat out in the sun than in the stuffy cafeteria. 

Koushiro Izumi was standing underneath a tree, his eyes glued to his phone as he quickly typed away on it. 

"Hey, look! It's that brainiac computer geek!" said a girl as they walked by with her two friends. She gestured to Koushiro, who was completely engrossed in his phone and oblvious to their gossiping. 

"He's so strange!" one of the girls said. "I mean, don't get me wrong. He's cute--But when I tried asking him on a date last year, he totally blew me off. Saying how he saw no reason to go out to dinner with someone he didn't know." 

"He's always been anti-social. Ever since grade school" supplied the third girl. "Personally, I've always been jealous of his hair." 

"His hair? What about it?" 

"It's bright red. Not the ugly orange color mine is. Why does HE get such a pretty hair color?" 

"You're ridiculous. It's just a rare color here, that's all" replied her friend in a soothing voice. 

The second girl spoke next and whispered so quietly her friends almost didn't hear her. "Years ago I overheard a teacher saying to another staff member that he didn't live with his birth parents. He's adopted, or so I've heard. I don't know if its true. It's possible he's not even full Japanese." 

The first girl scowled. "That's such a rude thing to say!"

Her other two friends didn't reply, just stared at her with shy expressions of their faces. Then one of them squeaked. "Look! It's Yagami-kun! Oh, He's so cute!" 

They watched as he stepped over to Koushiro, blocking the shorter boy's view of his phone with a hand. Koushiro glanced up and smiled. As though sensing that they were being watched, Taichi looked up at the girls, who quickly dashed off in embarrassment for being caught staring. 

Taichi shook his head, having heard some of the things their fellow classmates have said behind Koushiro's back. Not wanting to ruin the mood, he teased lightly, "You're a babe magnet and you don't even know it." He chuckled. He didn't say for what reason though, opting to keep his boyfriend oblivious. 

"Huh?" 

"Never mind. How are you today, gorgeous? I didn't see you this morning." Taichi ruffled Koushiro's hair, resisting the urge to kiss him. Much to Taichi's dismay, Koushiro was far from a fan of public displays of affection. Yet it was a small price to pay if it meant keeping his boyfriend happy. 

"Sorry. I had to meet up with one of my professors this morning to talk to him about the online quantum physics class I'm hoping to get into" said Koushiro. "Also, Sora was texting me. She said she won't be able to make it to your match today." 

Taichi sighed dramatically, leaning against the tree. "Whaaat!? Ugh, she could have told me a bit sooner! Great! Is anybody gonna be making it? So far it doesn't seem like it!" 

Koushiro shrugged. "Guess she figured you'd take the news better if I told you rather than herself." 

"Well, she's not wrong" sighed Taichi. "But still! That blows!" 

"I'm sorry. You know I'd be there if I could be, but it's my parents' anniversary dinner tonight. There's no way I can miss it." 

Taichi nodded understandingly, even as he slumped further against the tree in disappointment. "Yeah, I know. I wouldn't want you to miss it either. I just know Jyou won't be making it cause all he ever does any more is exams. And Yamato already told me days ago he has a gig for his band and Takeru will obviously be there with him. Miyako is doing something with her family and Iori has kendo practice and Daisuke and Ken are IN the game, so....They don't really count. Why is it so hard for us to spend time together anymore?" 

Koushiro shrugged at him, looking as though the answer was plain as day. "We're growing up, Tai. We're not 11 year olds anymore. It's a fact of life. We're in High school now and we'll be headed off to college before long. Life just....gets in the way." 

Taichi grumbled and crossed his arms. 

"Why don't you text Mimi?" suggested Koushiro. 

"Mimi? As in our friend who lives clear over in America? Ha! Funny, Izzy. Real funny. I'm sure she'll just hop on the next plane over so she can make it in time!" 

Koushiro rolled his eyes. "No, Taichi. I didn't mean it like that. Just send her a text for the heck of it. You haven't texted her in a while." 

"You keep tabs on who I text?" 

"No. She told me. We keep in touch. We text at least once a week to say hi. Didn't you know that?" 

Taichi wrapped an arm around Koushiro. "Izzy, love, I learn something new about you every day and I absolutely love it. Guess it goes along with your whole, Bearer of Knowledge thing" he joked. 

"Funny" deadpanned the red head. "But seriously. Just text her." 

"Fiiine" whined Taichi as he pulled out his phone. Only seconds after he sent her a text, he received a reply back. "Ummm....She replied." 

"Oh?" 

Several texts later and Taichi yelped in shock. 

"What? What is it?" Koushiro leaned over to try to look at the screen of Taichi's phone. 

He shouldn't have bothered for Taichi turned the phone so the screen was facing him. "She's already on her way. Apparently Takeru had sent her a text talking about our match this afternoon and she's coming all the way over here to watch it!" 

They allowed a moment to digest that. 

Koushiro broke the silence. "Wow. That's what I'd call a committed friend." When Taichi groaned loudly again, he asked, "What now?" 

Taichi simply showed him the text instead of reading it out loud. 

'Hey, boo! I was gonna surprise you, but since you now know, I guess this means you can pay for my plane ticket! Hehe! Thanks so much, boo!' 

Koushiro made a face. "Well, at least one of your friends will be making it to your game." He laughed nervously. 

"Ugh, just help me look up how much plane tickets are...." 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

 

Hours flew by and soon the air was filled with chatter as everyone gathered around to watch the soccer match between the Odaiba and Kawasaki Junior and Senior High Schools. The two teams were already on the grass stretching and warming up, some of them dribbling soccer balls with each other. 

In the midst of the group was Daisuke, who was stretching his legs. He looked up to Ken who was stretching beside him. "Have you seen Taichi-sempai? He should be here by now. He's almost missed warm ups completely." 

Ken rose from his bent over position of stretching and looked around. He tucked a strand of indigo hair behind his ear. "No. I haven't." 

Just as he spoke those words they could hear Taichi calling over to his coach. "I'm sorry I'm late, Mr. Nakashima, but I'm here now!" 

Daisuke and Ken watched with perplexed expressions as the older teen ran up to his coach and bowed in apology. The tall, strong built coach with dark buzz cut hair and pale skin shook his head and frowned. "I expect better of you, Yagami-kun. You're a senior know and have to show a good example for your younger teammates. You may be one of our top players, Yagami-kun, but I will bench you if this continues." 

Taichi nodded. "Yes sir. I understand, sir. Thank you, sir" he mumbled frantically. Once he was dismissed from Mr. Nakashima's scornful glare, he walked over to Ken and Daisuke. "Jeez, what's his problem?" 

Ken just raised his eyebrows at him. Despite being one of the fellow Chosen, Ken rarely ever spoke to Taichi unless he was specifically spoken to or to simply be polite. Yet Daisuke had plenty to say. "Hmmm....Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you nearly missed all of warm-ups before a big match, Taichi-sempai!" He narrowed his eyes and with a jeering smile he said, "Too busy making out with Koushiro again, weren't you?" 

Taichi's face went red before he shoved Daisuke away playfully. "Shut up! Like you're any better when it comes to Ken." 

Daisuke snickered, not at all bothered by being called out. "No argument there! I'm head over heels for him! Who wouldn't be!? Just look at him!" 

Ken suddenly found the grass blades to be very fascinating as he tried to hide his embarrassment behind his hair. 

"If you MUST know, I was busy looking up plane ticket prices from here to America! Apparently Mimi is gonna be here any second to watch our game" Taichi supplied. 

Ken and Daisuke both stared at him with wide eyes. It was Ken who spoke first though. "Mimi?? She's coming all the way from America to watch us play?" 

Taichi nodded. 

"Dude! That's rad! I mean, its insane, but totally rad!" laughed Daisuke as he raised an arm to stretch over his head. 

"It's also very sweet of her" added Ken, shaking his head at the very idea of it all. "No wonder you're running late then." 

It was roughly twenty minutes later that the soccer match officially began and before long the field was crawling with sweaty soccer players desperately trying to win points for their team. Currently the score was 6 to 11 with Odaiba in the lead. 

Daisuke chuckled as he watched Ken meticulously and strategically run circles around the opposing team's defenders before giving the soccer ball a solid kick into the net of the goal. 

Daisuke jumped up, his arms in the air as he gave out a loud whoop. "Yeah, alright! Take that, Kawasaki schools! You can't beat us!" 

A scoff from behind him grabbed his attention. "Jeez, Daisuke. Could you be anymore cocky?" 

Daisuke turned to see Taichi Yagami slowly catching his breath from running through the field. Daisuke, Taichi, and Ken were all dressed in their red and white Odaiba soccer uniforms while the opposing team was in their own blue and yellow uniforms. 

The whistle blew for a time out and each team went to their designated part of the field to meet with their coaches. Daisuke and Taichi jogged over together with Ken quickly at their heels. 

"Nice goal, Ichijouji-san!" congratulated one of their teammates. 

Ken's face was already red from all the running, but Daisuke knew there was a high chance he was still blushing at the praise. The indigo haired teen scratched the back of his neck nervously as he nodded to who spoke to him. "Thank you, Katou-san." 

"Alright, alright, settle down!" snapped their coach. "The game is far from over and still wide open for Kawasaki to take the win from us!" 

"Please, Mr. Nakashima" scoffed Taichi. "We're running them spare! Between Daisuke, Ken, Sachiko, and me; they don't stand a chance!" 

Daisuke shoved him in the side with his elbow. "Now who's the cocky one?" he teased. Taichi slipped him a rude gesture while the coach was busy speaking to someone else. If Ken noticed the exchange, he didn't comment, simply shook his head and listened to Mr. Nakashima.

"Ichijouji-san!" came a voice from behind them. Ken turned and saw that it was one of his teammates Reiko. "Why didn't you pass the ball to me, I was wide open! I could have made that same shot!" 

Ken frowned, clearly looking concerned. "I'm sorry, Reiko-san. I guess I didn't notice. I appreciate you letting me know this. I'll try harder to pay more attention to my teammates. With that said--" he paused and bowed to Mr. Nakashima. "Since this is my first time playing for Odaiba, I just want to thank all of you for welcoming me to your team. You're all great and I hope to get to know you all better soon!" 

Reiko, who had seemed annoyed with Ken at first, now seemed pacified, since his sneering expression softened to a wan smile. 

Daisuke shook his head, leaning over to speak in Ken's ear. "Must you always be the King of Politeness?" 

Ken shrugged. "Sorry" he mumbled. 

"Don't be. It's hot" whispered Daisuke, making the taller teen go red. Daisuke pulled back and away from Ken as Mr. Nakashima began to talk again. 

"Yes, very true, Ichijouji-kun. This is your first game with us. I guess you've spent so much time practicing with us the last few weeks, it slipped my mind. But anyways, back to the game. Let's keep it up! Don't start slacking off just because we're so far ahead! Now go out there and show them how Odaiba plays!" 

The whole team cheered before the group broke up so everyone had a chance to grab their water bottles. Ken was stretching his arms behind his back, his hands clasped together when Taichi spoke up after drinking some water, "Seriously though, everyone is missing an amazing game! And like Mr. Nakashima said, the game is still close enough that anything could happen! It's one of those games that really keeps you on your toes!" 

Daisuke nodded with just as much enthusiasm as Taichi. "Tell me about it! Of all games for everyone to miss, it's gotta be this one! No fair!" 

A groan from Ken gained the shorter teen's attention. "Hey, you okay? Get a cramp or something?" 

Ken was rubbing at his temple, his eyes closed in pain. "No, nothing like that." He grunted again. "I just suddenly got a bad headache. My brain suddenly feels so fuzzy.... " 

Concerned, Daisuke leaned closer to him, checking his forehead. "Don't think you have a fever. Maybe it'll pass?" 

"Maybe" sighed Ken. 

"Think you can keep playing?" was Daisuke's next question. 

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I'll just drink some more water" replied Ken before grabbing his water bottle. 

The whistle blew and time out was over. The three of them dropped their water and ran to the center of the field. Just as the ball was being set down between Taichi and the other team captain, a large gust of wind blew through the air. It was so strong that the soccer ball even moved where it was dropped on the grass. 

"Hey! What the heck is THAT thing!?" someone shouted. 

Taichi looked to the guy who had said that and saw that they were pointing at something up in the sky. He narrowed his eyes, the sun bright and painfully hurting his corneas as he tried to see what everyone else seemed to be looking at. 

Beside him, Daisuke asked, "Is that....Kuwagamon???" 

It was in fact, Kuwagmon, the large red insect digimon coming straight for them. "GET DOWN!" screamed Ken as he pushed down on both of their shoulders and successfully pulling them out of the way before Kuwagamon came swooping down in an attack. 

They could hear the coach blowing the whistle everyone all began to shout in fear and panic. The large red blur known as Kuwagamon came rushing past them from above, causing another gushing wind to slam right into them. The earth seemed to quake as dirt and grass flew everywhere. 

The sound of metal bending filled the air along with a loud buzzing noise. 

The terrifying insect digimon was flying aggressively through the sky, whamming into buildings, sliding his pincers into the ground; deliberately causing as much damage as possible it seemed. 

"What's HE doing here!?" Taichi shouted loudly. "We have to get out of here! There's too many innocent people!" 

Daisuke ran up behind Ken and grabbed onto his shoulder. "No kidding! But how are we supposed to do that, huh!?" Daisuke went to pull Ken along but paused when the taller teen didn't budge. "Uh, Ken? Now's not the best time to have a mental breakdown." 

Ken groaned as a sharp pain shot up his neck and through his skull. He placed both of his hands on the side of his head like he was in pain. 

Daisuke leaned forward to look Ken in the eyes just in time to see Ken's pupils dilate drastically. He shouted when Kuwagamon came hurtling over top of them again and the force of his flight sent them to the ground. 

"Did you hear that!?" gasped Ken in fear. 

"Hear what? The desperate screams of innocent people!? Yeah, I heard it just fine, thank you! Come on, babe, we gotta move!" 

Daisuke reached out and grabbed Daisuke's hand tightly, gaining the teen's attention. "I heard it. The sound of a whip." 

Daisuke's eyes widened in alarm at this confession, but didn't have time to think on it when Taichi's voice broke through his thoughts. 

"Daisuke! Ken! We gotta move it!" shouted Taichi from where he was on the other side of the field. 

"Earth to Ken!" Daisuke's voice pierced through the fog of Ken's thoughts. "We gotta move!" 

Ken moved his head until he met Daisuke's gaze. Those large expressive warm brown eyes met with Ken's own deep indigo ones. His heart pounded a little less when their eyes met and focusing suddenly seemed infinitely easier. With a determined grimace, Ken nodded and the both of them took off after Taichi, who was already trying to gain Kuwagamon's attention. 

The three of them all started running across the field in the direction Kuwagamon was flying. At this point, the area had been evacuated the cars on the road had screeched to a stop; the drivers all panicking at the sight of the large digimon attacking the soccer field. 

They watched helplessly as Kuwagamon rammed itself into a traffic light, dislodging the whole metal pole from the cement and sending the pole and its cables flying several yards away where he slammed into the side of a building. Cars screeched to a halt and people were running for their lives screaming. 

"This is ridiculous!" snarled Taichi. "Are we supposed to just sit here and watch this!?" 

Daisuke and Ken weren't able to answer before Kuwagamon turned around and aimed his sights on them. They all gasped in shock and fear as the Ultimate digimon started charging his way straight for them. With wide eyes, they were helpless to do anything; all three frozen in fear. 

"PEPPER BREATH!"  
There was great cracking sound and a rush of air and dirt blew into them, their eyes squeezed tight from the force. They all fell backwards onto the grass.  
When all three of them opened their eyes, they openly gaped. 

They could see the backs of Agumon, Veemon, and Wormmon standing protectively in front of them, all ready to strike the angry Kuwagamon. 

Kuwagamon had bounched back from Agumon's attack but was now ready to strike again by flying back their way. Before the teenagers could even call out to their partners, both Wormmon and Veemon jumped high into the air. 

"VEE HEADBUTT!" 

Veemon slammed his head into Kuwagamon's, making the larger digimon cry out in pain. At this moment of weakness, Wormmon attacked. 

"STICKY NET!" 

The little caterpillar's webbing fell straight into Kuwagamon's eyes, rendering them useless. 

"PEPPER BREATH!" Agumon attacked again. The combination of attacks disoriented Kuwagamon, who flew above Ken, Daisuke, and Taichi and up into the sky, but not without digging its claws into the dark around the boys and sending dirt and grass flying. The virus digimon continued to screech in rage but didn't return to them. 

Once Kuwagamon was out of sight and everything settled around them, silence filled the soccer field. 

Panting from the adrenaline of all that had just happened in the matter of minutes, the three stunned Chosen all turned their eyes to stare at their digimon partners, who immediately came bounding over to them in excitement. 

"TAICHI!" 

"DAISUKE!" 

"KEN-CHAN!" 

The three boys laughed excitedly as their arms were quickly filled with digimon. 

"Wormmon!" Ken half sobbed as he pressed his face on the top of Wormmon's head. 

Taichi and Daisuke were no better off, Daisuke feeling the tiniest hint of moisture in his eyes as Veemon squeezed his torso. 

"Agumon! No way!" Taichi exclaimed. He held Agumon close, closing his eyes in happiness. 

After several moments the six of them pulled away from each other enough to take in the whole situation. 

Daisuke was the first to say something. "But wait, how did you guys get here?" 

Veemon pushed back a bit so that he was sitting between Daisuke's legs. "We dunno, to be honest." He looked between Wormmon and Agumon for confirmation, then turned back to Daisuke, raising his arms up in a shrug. "We just sensed you guys were in danger and then, POW! We were here kicking butt to that ol' Kuwagamon!" 

"It may seem strange, but I thought maybe it was something you guys had done" added Wormmon, closing his eyes as Ken scratched one of his antennae. 

Ken frowned, turning to grimace at his friends. "The real question is: how did Kuwagamon get here? I thought the Gate was closed." 

Taichi nodded. "It is. Trust me, Koushiro's tried opening it before. He would have told me if he'd managed to get it open." 

In the far distance the six of them heard a great booming sound and then the very faint but identifiable sound of Kuwagamon's screeching. Taichi was the first to stand up,  
pushing Agumon off him enough to do so. "Enough! We can figure this mystery out later! But first we have to stop Kuwagamon from destroying the city!" He turned to look down at Ken and Daisuke, who gave him determined looks before they stood up as well.

With Wormmon in Ken's arms, and Augmon and Veemon running alongside Taichi and Daisuke, they quickly made their way towards the sound of the battle they knew they were about to face. 

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	2. Together Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: 
> 
> Alright, so we're on to Chapter 2. For those of you who have read Chapter 1, thank you so very much! I'm sure you may have noticed at this point (if not, I'm about to tell you), this fic WILL have some similarities with Adventure Tri. There will be some events that take place straight out of Tri. However, with this said, I want to make it clear that this is not meant to be a remake of Tri in any way shape or form. Yes, it may appear that way at first, because I am loosely basing some of my story off of what happens in Tri and characters from Tri will appear, but I promise you, the story will change. The plot IS different. So, if you're expecting certain events to happen since you watched Tri, don't expect them to. Similar events will happen but its not the same. Mainly because the 02 kids are heavily involved in this story when they weren't in Tri. 
> 
> So, again, have patience and if you have any comments/questions/concerns, feel free to PM me. :) 
> 
> Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Light and Darkness  
Chapter 2 - Together Again  
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02/Digimon Tri. 

 

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"Is this seriously happening to me right now!?" demanded a very frustrated Jyou Kido as he tried typing on his laptop. Unfortunately, every time he did, the incorrect letters and numbers would appear. Jyou grunted loudly, earning him a couple nervous glances from the other students in the library. "Great! Of course, my laptop would decide to flip out on me on a day I badly need it!" 

He didn't notice the group of students leaning closely at the small phone showing a live feed of Kuwagamon rampaging through the city. 

He rubbed at his forehead in defeat. "Maybe I'm just doomed to fail." 

 

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"So, exactly how are we supposed to follow Kuwagamon, Taichi!? We don't exactly have transportation!" yelled Daisuke as the three of them ruffled through the bags at the side of soccer field. They were grabbing their cell phones and digivices. Not to mention grabbing quick drinks of water. 

Agumon, Veemon, and Wormmon all looked up at their human partners in worry. Agumon rose a finger. "And we don't exactly have a lot of time either." 

Daisuke, who was in the middle of drinking from his water bottle, gulped quickly and blurted out, "Hey! These guys could digivolve! Then we could just fly after him!"

Ken shook his head, glancing over as another police car went speeding down the street. "While that would be the fastest way, we can't risk it. Remember all the trouble we had the last time we had digimon fighting in the city? The armies and government nearly got involved. No, I say we keep as low a profile as possible." 

Taichi growled and sneered at Ken, yet didn't argue. Instead he offered another idea. "I have my bike!" He then darted off to where all the bikes were parked and locked up. 

"Goodie for you, but Ken and I don't!" grunted Daisuke as they paused before Taichi's bike. They watched as the older teen quickly undid the lock. 

Taichi gestured to the many bikes that had been left abandoned in everyone's haste. "Take your pick!" 

Ken's eyes widened as he adjusted Wormmon in his arms. "You want us to steal someone's bikes?" 

"Wouldn't be the first time for you two, now would it!?" He shot a meaningful look to Ken. "Besides, I'm thinking bike stealing compared to your other past discretions is just a walk in the park. Now do you want to save the city from Kuwagamon or don't you!?" growled Taichi as he climbed onto his bike. 

Ken looked away. 

Daisuke, however, was seething and clenching his fists. "Uncalled for, Taichi! And just how do you expect us to break the locks on these, huh!?" 

Veemon glanced between Daisuke and the bikes before them. He then glanced at his right claw. "Uhh, how about like this?" This question gained everyone's attention and they all watched as Veemon swiped at the lock, which didn't stand a chance against his strength. The metal lock clicked loudly before falling apart into two pieces and the chain connected to the lock fell to the cement with a clang. 

"Ken-chan! Look!" cried out Wormmon. Looking down at Wormmon, he saw that the little mon was pointing a pink pincer up at the sky. All three of them looked up just in time to see Kuwagamon flying high up into the sky with a loud screech, heading towards what looked like a hole in the sky. Once the large digimon was through it, the red lined hole slowly closed up. 

"What the heck just happened!? Did you guys see that too!? He just vanished through some kind of portal!" shouted Daisuke in shock. 

The three of them all shared a look; none of them knowing what to say or make of it. 

 

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Classical music was being played in the large and lavish dining room of the top floor restaurant, waiters coming and going in and out of the kitchen. Murmurs of conversations from every table was just a dull sound as wine glasses clinked together. 

Koushiro took a deep breath and smiled. In front of him sat his parents, both of them looking over the menu as they decided what they wanted to eat. He glanced down at his own menu, having no idea what he felt like trying. This was the first time they had ever been to this restaurant due to the fact that the waiting list for reservations was so long. However, Koushiro managed to pull some strings thanks to a few people he knew and managed to get them a reservation on his parents' anniversary. 

His pulled at the collar of his red bow tie, which was pinned on his white dress shirt. Even now, he wasn't entirely sure the red bow tie went with his mustard vest, but too late to change his mind now. 

"Thank you again for getting us a reservation here, Koushiro, dear" his mother's voice snapped him back to reality. 

Koushiro glanced up. "Oh! It was no problem, mom! I know the two of you have been wanting to come here ever since they opened last year!" 

"Still though! You went to all that trouble!" admonished his father, Masami. 

Koushiro shrugged. "It really wasn't a big deal. I happen to go to class with the owner's son and I promised to help him out with his midterm final on mathematical logistics. It just so happened he asked if he could help me with anything in return and....I thought of this..." he laughed nervously. 

"Well, we really appreciate it, dear" smiled Kae. 

It was then that a waiter walked up to their table. He immediately began speaking in French with a warm smile on his face. Kae and Masami just stared at him with wide eyes while Koushiro listened intently before quickly replying back. 

When the waiter bowed and left, his parents only stared at him, clearly waiting for an explanation. "Heh heh" the teen laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "He asked what we wanted to drink, so I told him." 

Kae shook her head fondly, watching Koushiro in awe. 

That was when a light buzzing noise came from the inside of Koushiro's pocket. Jumping in surprise, he glanced up at his parents to see that they had gone back to looking over the menu. As discreetly as possible, Koushiro pulled his phone out and glanced at it. The screen informed him that Taichi was trying to call him. 

Koushiro bit back a sigh. 'Ugh, Taichi knows I'm at dinner with my parents, so why is he calling?' thought Koushiro in dismay. He clicked off his phone, blocking the call. 'His soccer match is probably about over and he wants to tell me about it.' 

 

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"Dammit, Izzy!" swore Taichi as he pulled his phone away from his ear and glared at it. "He probably thinks I forgot about him going to dinner with his parents!" He kicked at the tire of his bike. 

Ken pulled down his own phone with a disappointed frown. "All I got was Miyako's answering machine." 

"Yeah, and no one is responding to that group text I sent out either!" grouched Daisuke, slumping on his bike with Veemon on his back. 

Perched up on Ken's shoulder, Wormmon peered down to look at Ken's phone. "You all still keep in contact?" 

Ken smiled at him. "Of course, we do." 

"Try to, at any rate" corrected Taichi. He punched in Takeru's phone number and raised it up to his ear. "Come on, Takeru, answer!" He waited and with each ring it felt like he was waiting an eternity. 

"Taichi?" came Takeru's voice on the other end. 

Thrilled to have finally gotten a hold of someone, Taichi beamed and began spewing out words. "Takeru! Oh, my god! Thank goodness you answered! Listen, something weird is going on in the downtown area! We saw Kuwagamon and --" 

"Taichi? Are you still there? I can hardly hear you. All I hear is static" interrupted Takeru. 

Taichi sighed with a frown. "I'll text you!" 

He barely heard Takeru confirm he had heard that much at least before hanging up and bringing up his text messages. To Daisuke and Ken he said, "I was able to get a hold of Takeru! But he could hardly hear me cause of a bad phone signal." 

"Not surprised" commented Ken as he scanned the area around them. "It doesn't look as though much of anything electrical is working all that great right now." He gestured to the traffic lights and cross walk signals and they were all flashing erratically and out of control. "I suspect that whatever is going on is causing some kind of interference. Kuwagamon appeared to have went through some kind of portal." 

"You mean like a gate way to the Digital World?" asked Wormmon. 

Ken shook his head. "I'm not sure. I've never seen anything quite like that." He turned to Taichi who was texting Takeru as fast as his fingers would type. "Taichi, was there ever a time when you original Chosen went to the Digital World without a gate?" 

His eyes never leaving his phone, Taichi replied, "Couple times. But nothing that looked like what we had seen earlier." He pressed a final button on his phone before giving out an outcry of satisfaction. "Alright! I messaged Takeru. Hopefully him and Yamato are able to meet up with us." Looking up at the sky where Kuawagmon was last seen, he added, "We just need to figure out if Kuwagamon is gone for good or not. And if he's not, we need to find him and stop him." 

 

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Iori panted heavily as he and his grandfather both took off their gear and set it aside. They then sat with their legs folded under them before Chikara Hida pulled out the yogurt packs they enjoyed eating during practice so much. 

He offered a packet to Iori. "Here you are, Iori." 

Iori wasn't paying attention though. Outside the window to their studio, he could have sworn he had seen something red flashing in the bright blue sky a moment ago. Lost in thought, he jumped when the cold packet of yogurt touched his cheek. With wide eyes, Iori pulled back and turned to his grandfather. 

"You seem distracted today, Iori. Is it something you wish to talk about?" offered Chikara, his deep voice filled with concern. "Your form was off center in today's lesson." 

Iori shook his head as he took the offered yogurt pack and pulled off the tab. "It's nothing. Really." He paused and took a sip of some of the yogurt. "I guess I've just had a strange feeling all day, grandpa. As though something is about to change. That's really the best I can do to describe it. Does that make sense?" 

Chikara didn't reply at first, thinking over what he had been asked. He sipped at his own yogurt before saying, "It makes perfect sense, Iori. It's your instincts kicking in. You may not know this, but we humans are a lot more in tune with nature than most are aware. That is why it is important to keep your mind sharp and ready, for when change does occur, we are more prepared to adapt to those changes." 

Iori sighed and looked down at his lap. "I guess that makes sense. I just wish I knew what was going on." 

There was a tapping sound from the door to the studio and the two of them looked up to see who could be knocking on their door and disrupting them. 

 

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As Taichi, Daisuke, and Ken rode their bikes through the streets of Odaiba, newscasters were on the television News Stations reporting the latest incident involving Kuwagamon. The woman on the screen was reading off a sheet of paper she had just been given. 

"It seems there are more and more reports coming in about some kind of large red creature wreaking havoc throughout the school district. The first sighting was seen near the Odaiba Middle school athletic fields, while a new report just came in stating that another sighting was seen in the downtown area." 

Daisuke slammed on his brakes, making them squeal and burn a mark on the cement. "Hey! Did you hear that!?" he shouted as they rode by an electronic store that was broadcasting the news on their televisions. 

Veemon, who was holding tightly around Daisuke's neck and back, gave a grunt. "Ooof, no, but I sure felt it. We need to work on your stops!" 

His sudden stop made Ken yell in alarm and dodge just in time before crashing into the auburn haired teen. Wormmon whimpered from where he was clinging to Ken's shoulders. Taichi had stopped as well from where he was ahead of them and both him and Agumon looked back to see why Daisuke stopped. 

Everyone listened and could hear the sound of people crying out and shouting in fright and alarm over top of the television news. They all waited on baited breath as they listened. "Why are we just sitting here?! The news isn't going to telll us anything we don't already know!" demanded Taichi. 

Daisuke frowned at the older teen. "The news said Kuwagamon was last seen in the downtown area! We're IN the downtown area! It means he's nearby!" 

Then the sound of windows shattering. Car alarms blared as a pedestrian ran down the street in terror. An electrical buzzing noise was then heard and it got louder and louder. The familiar roar of Kuwagamon. 

"I have a feeling he's closer than we think he is" whispered Wormmon cautiously. 

"I just wish he's show his face so that we can put a stop to him! He's out there somewhere causing more damage to the city and putting innocent lives in danger!" growled Taichi in frustration. 

Just as his words were spoken, Kuwagamon came flying around the corner of the street, it's claws digging into the windows of the building next to it.  
Taken aback, they all fell backwards in shock; their bikes forgotten. 

Agumon jumped forward. "Enough of this! Taichi! It's time to make me digivolve!" 

"Daisuke!" shouted Veemon, giving his partner a determined look. 

Knowing exactly what Veemon was asking, Daisuke reached into the pocket of his soccer shorts. Of course he had his digivice on him. They all did. None of them ever went anywhere without their digivice. Despite the gate having been closed for some time, it was like a security blanket. It was a part of them and they had all once agreed that it simply felt wrong not to carry it with them. 

Ken reached into his own pocket while Taichi whipped out his digivice. 

"Agumon!" yelled Taichi. "It's time for action!" The yellow dinosaur digimon glared daggers at Kuwgamon. 

"Veemon! You know what to do!" encouraged Daisuke. 

"Wormmon! It's time to Digivolve!" shouted Ken. 

Their digivices all lit up at the same time that Agumon, Veemon, and Wormmon glowed with a bright light. Their bodies shifted and changed, growing in size before Greymon, ExVeemon, and Stingmon stood towering in their place. Positioning into their battle stances, they readied themselves to protect their human partners. 

Daisuke grinned and clenched his hands into fists. "This should be a cinch! Those three against one Kuwagamon!" 

Just as his words were spoken, Kuwagamon was attacked by two powerful attacks; though neither of them seemed to have a whole lot of effect. Once the steam and smoke evaporated and they could see their foe more clearly, they saw that not even a scratch had been laid on him. "You were saying, Daisuke?" groaned Taichi. "Those were two powerful attacks and this guy is acting like they're blowing air bubbles at him!" 

"Spiking Strike!" attacked Stingmon as he made his move. The attack was quick and calculated, yet sadly, Kuwagamon was faster. The attack was dodged and a giant claw slammed right into the insect digimon's torso and sending Stingmon flying backwards towards Ken. Ken shouted out in alarm and moved out of the way just in time before his partner could land on him. Sadly, the same could not be said for their bikes, which were now nothing but scrap metal lying among broken rubble that was once the street's concrete. 

"Stingmon! Be careful!" warned Ken, turning away from their ruined bicycles. "Remember, we're not up against Control Spire digimon anymore! Those are a thing of the past! This guy is the real deal meaning his attacks are more effective!" 

"Do we know that for sure though?" Taichi spoke up accusingly. 

Ken turned to him. "What?" 

"How do you know that for sure? We don't know where these guys came from or who sent them to us" reasoned Taichi as they watched Greymon and Kuwagamon fight one on one. He grunted in alarm as he watched Greymon get picked up and tossed around like a sack of potatoes. 

"I don't know what you're trying to say here, Taichi-sempai, but I don't like it! Of course these guys aren't Control Spire digimon! And even if they were, what does it matter!? Point is, he's clearly stronger than what we're used to! Something's off with him!" insisted Daisuke.

"X-Laser!" 

"Nova Blast!" 

Their digimon partners continued to push the battle further and further out onto the intersection of the street, knowing they had to prevent as much damage as possible. It was at that moment that another electrical portal appeared just behind Kuwagamon. Unknowingly, all three Champion Digimon pushed themselves right through it before they disappeared completely as the portal closed. 

Save for the distant police siren and frantic cries of people still fleeing for their lives, everything was silent. 

"Stingmon!" called out Ken as he frantically looked all around at their surroundings. 

"They just disappeared" observed Taichi. 

"No" argued Ken. "They went through some kind of portal. Didn't you see it? It's the same strange occurrence that happened when Kuwagamon first appeared. It's like they're popping in and out of our world."

"So, they're going back and forth between here and the Digital World?" surmised Daisuke. 

"Well, we can't know for sure, but I'm thinking it's a pretty safe bet to say they are" answered the indigo haired teenager. "Sadly though, with them gone and us without any kind of transport left--" he waved a hand towards their bikes. "There's no way for us to know if they've already showed up somewhere else nearby or if they'll even show back up here in the same place." 

 

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Audio equipment, sound boards, microphones, drum sets, cables, road cases, and more littered the back stage area along with a portion of the on stage floor. Random notes were being played on a couple different guitars as the members of Knife of Day checked over their gear and prepping for their show. 

Yamato sat in the midst of it, his own guitar cradled in his arms as he plucked at its strings. His band mates were talking quietly amongst themselves as the door to the backstage opened. Takeru poked his head in, smiling smile when he saw that he wasn't interrupting anything. He pulled down on his hat as he stepped further inside. 

Yamato didn't acknowledge his presence until he was standing right next to him, and even then, Yamato didn't say anything. Takeru leaned down and whispered something into Yamato's ears. 

"What are you talking about?" the older brother finally asked. 

Takeru sighed and pulled out his phone. Yamato wordlessly looked at it, taking in what he was seeing. He frowned. "It's happening all over the city?" 

Takeru nodded. "Yeah. I first heard something was wrong when Taichi called me from his phone. I knew something had to be very wrong since he was at his soccer match." 

Yamato groaned and leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair. "Hmm....I wondered why our sound equipment was sounding so off. " He hesitated before saying, "Thanks for letting me know." 

Takeru nodded. 

"Yo! Check this out!" called out the drummer for Knife of Day. He had walked towards the back to the dressing rooms and was now calling everyone over. "Some freaky monster is out there attacking the city!" 

Yamato and Takeru both gasped quietly at that before sharing a knowing look. They ran over to the dressing room where there was a flat screen attached to the upper corner of the room. 

"We now have live coverage of what appears to be some kind of creature flying through the city. The creature has been seen crashing into traffic, buildings, and several buildings. At the same time, all electrical devices have stopped working properly, along with all traffic signals which has caused numerous car accidents--" the woman was saying on the news. 

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" mumbled Yamato, his eyes never leaving the screen. 

Takeru nodded. "Yep. I'll start calling and let everyone know that this show isn't happening...." 

 

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Koushiro was just taking another bite of his meal when someone tapped on his shoulder. Thinking it was the just the waiter, Koushiro set down his fork and already opened his mouth to say that they were still doing fine in French when a voice cut him off. 

"Are you Koushiro Izumi?" 

Koushiro blinked, completely dumbfounded as he turned in his seat to address the person speaking to him. A tall man in a business suit was looking down his long thin nose at him with neutral expression on his face. 

"Ummm....Yeah, that's me. May I help you?" replied Koushiro as evenly as he could. He glanced at his parents, who only gave him worried looks in return. 

"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me" said the man in the suit. 

"He didn't do anything wrong!" Mae blurted out, nearly knocking her silverware off the table. 

"Mae---" began Masaki, not knowing how to comfort his wife. 

"I didn't say he did anything wrong. All I said was that he was going to have to come with me. I'm afraid it's a city emergency" the man told them. 

"And you need MY help?" hazarded Koushiro. 

"Yes." 

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"Have you located Ichijouji?" 

"Yes. He is riding his bike through the downtown area near Highton View Terrace with both Motomiya and Yagami."

"Good. You know what to do." 

"Affirmative." 

 

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"GREYMON!" Taichi was still shouting for his digimon partner even though nearly half an hour had gone by without any trace. 

"This is ridiculous. We've been standing here expecting them to simply show up again, when there's a very high chance they won't" nagged Ken. 

Taichi whirled around and glared at the younger teen. "You have any better ideas, Ichijouji!?" 

Daisuke stepped in between them before anything started. "Enough! Ken has a point! We can't just stand around here! Our digimon might be in trouble and they might need us!"  
"Well, then what are we supposed to do!?" demanded Taichi. Before he could get an answer, his cell phone started chirping in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and answered it without looking at the ID. "Hello?" 

"Onii-chan?" 

"Hikari!" sighed Taichi with relief. He looked up to see Daisuke and Ken smiling when they heard it was their friend on the phone. "What's wrong?" 

"Tai, you need to head to the airport as soon as possible" was Hikari's clipped reply. 

Taichi's eyes widened as he nervously glanced at their destroyed bikes. "The airport? How do you know?" 

"It's all over the news, Tai. Just get over there as soon as you can" she stressed. 

"Umm....That's....Going to be a bit of a problem...." mumbled Taichi. 

Daisuke and Ken followed his gaze and knew immediately what he was talking about. 

"Onii-chan?" came Hikari's voice through the phone. 

"Don't worry, we'll be there as soon as we can" confided the older teen. 

"Who's 'we'?" questioned Hikari, her voice changing to one of confusion. "Who else is with you? Tai?" 

"Leave it to me" was all Taichi said in reply before hanging up the phone. 

After a beat, Daisuke blurted out, "Well!? Who was that? Don't leave us hangin' here, man!" 

Taichi stuffed his phone in his pocket. "That was Hikari. She told me to get over to the airport as soon as possible. My best guess is that's where Greymon and the others are. That portal must have sent them there. Only thing is, we no longer have a way to get there quickly. It'll take us half the night to get there." 

The sound of a vehicle coming up towards them drew their attention and they turned to watch as a black truck stopped next to them. The truck was nondescript to say the least, lacking nearly any kind of brand or dealer name, which made it all the more suspicious. The tinted windows certainly didn't help either. 

Cautiously, the Chosen waited to see what would happen next. 

"Umm....Hello?" voiced Daisuke uncertainly when nothing happened immediately. 

His comment went ignored as the passenger side window slowly slid down. Sitting in the driver's seat was a man with short dark hair and dark eyes; only appearing to be around ten years older than themselves. 

Both Daisuke and Taichi jolted in surprise when they realized who they were looking at. At the same time they both said, "Mr. Nishijima?" 

Ken titled his head to one side in confusion. "You know him? Who is he?" 

"He's a teacher at our school. He teaches calligraphy" explained Daisuke. 

Taichi frowned. "What are you doing here?" 

Mr. Nishijima shook his head, his one hand never leaving the steering wheel. "There's no time to explain. Just please get in the truck. 

The three puzzled Chosen all looked at each in silent agreement before Taichi reached to open the back passenger side door and they climbed inside. 

 

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Meanwhile, a clamor of angry voices filled the lounge areas of each airline terminal. Up on the screens where each flight was brightly shown with their destinations and time of arrivals and take off approximations, everyone was reading 'Canceled'. 

Not a single flight was leaving or arriving. 

"Look at that! Not a single flight is going out!" exclaimed an angry woman. 

"Yeah, what the heck is going on!?" demanded a gentlemen with his briefcase and suitcase next to him. "This is unacceptable!" 

With a clunk of her heavy bags, Mimi groaned. "Well, this is just ridiculous! I fly all the way over here for THIS!?" she whined loudly. Before her was a very crowded airport with very angry travelers in it. She pushed back her hair off her shoulder and pulled her light pink jacket tighter around her. 

She then pulled out her phone. "And what's worse---I can't get a signal to save my life! Just WHAT is happening!?" When she was once again denied a signal, she groaned. "Taichi so owes me for this!!" 

Little did any of them know the battle between four digimon that was currently raging on outside the terminal windows outside. 

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"All Units, Code 19 at International Airport. Repeat. Code 19. All units respond. Over." 

Sitting in the back seat of the truck, Taichi, Daisuke, and Ken all silently listened, their eyes looking at the back of their driver's head suspiciously. 

Mr. Nishijima reached over and pressed a button on the truck's radio before the little screen showed a news report showing live coverage of Greymon, ExVeemon, and Stingmon fighting with Kuwagamon. They listened to the newswoman. "We have received confirmation that the airport has been completely shut down, and as you can see from our live overhead shot, there are huge creatures on the runway apparently engaging --" 

With a narrowed look, Taichi asked what was on all three of their minds. "Mr. Nishijima, who are you?" 

Mr. Nishijima slowed down the truck in front of close closed gated doors, reaching out of his window to press a code into the gate's entry panel before the gates slowly opened.  
"You're not going to answer us, are you?" accused Daisuke. The truck slowly moved inside the gates and went up a ways before it stopped again. 

"We have much more pressing matters to deal with" sighed Nishijima. "Just know that I am here to help you. This is as far as I can take you. You're needed here." 

Uncertainly, the three boys climbed out of the truck. Out of habit, Ken bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, whoever you are." Daisuke shut the door behind them and glanced warily at their mysterious teacher. 

"Good luck" was all Nishijima said in reply. "You're going to need it." 

A loud roar of pain from Greymon had them set into action, turning and running towards the battle. "Greymon!" screamed Taichi as they ran towards them. 

A powerful gust of energy from Kuwagamon was pushing ExVeemon and Stingmon backwards, their bodies pushed so far into the concrete that they were crushing the runway into rubble. They both groaned in pain from the impact. 

Once Taichi, Daisuke, and Ken were closer, Ken gasped. "How is this even possible!? It's three against one and yet Kuwagamon is still going at it and slamming them into pulp!"  
As if he knew he was being spoken about, Kuwagamon, in a moment of zero attacks since his attackers were still recovering, he leaned up so that he was standing and let out a screech of battle into the air. As he did this, his pincers slightly glowed as more red electrical particles surrounded him and his body. 

"WOAH! Did you all see that!?" exclaimed Daisuke. 

"I most certainly do! It's like you can see the very digi-code he's made out of. We've never seen anything like that before" said Ken. They watched as their digimon desperately tried to stand up and continue fighting. "What I don't understand is why he's so strong! Kuwagamon should have been taken down by now but any attacks our digmon throw at them hardly affects him!" 

"Hey!" interjected Daisuke suddenly. He pulled out his D3. "Let's DNA Digivolve! Remember!?" 

Ken blinked at him a moment before grinning. He pulled out his own black digivice and the two of them held them out by arm's length together. After a short pause and nothing happened, they glanced nervously at each other. 

"Nothing is happening" whispered Ken. "Usually they react by now." 

Daisuke gave Ken a side glance. "You sure you can do it?" 

Instead of looking insulted by the insinuation, he looked crestfallen. He knew Daisuke hadn't meant it like that. The digivolution was a dual act; both of their minds had to be ready and focused for it. Ken just stared down at his digivice wordlessly. 

"Come on, guys! We don't have time for this!" scowled Taichi. 

As though to prove his point, Kuwagamon attacked with their Shadow Slash attack, catching Greymon and Stingmon off guard. Both of them were hit directly, causing them to collapse in a limp heap on the rubble that was once cement. 

ExVeemon, who had just stood up, turned to see what had happened, only for Kuwagamon to attack him next, trapping him with his pincers and tightly and painfully. Then, with a strong whip of his head, Kuwagamon sent ExVeemon flying. The projection of the throw sent the blue digimon slamming into a jetliner. 

"Stingmon!" 

"ExVeemon!"

"Greymon!" 

Now with no one to oppose him, turned his attention to Taichi, Ken, and Daisuke, who all flinched in alarm. Just as the threatening digimon began to step towards them, a voice rang through the air.

"Howling Blaster!" 

Blue flames suddenly engulfed Kuwagamon and sent him back several yards. 

Taichi whipped his head around at the familiar attack. "Garurumon!" 

Roughly a dozen yards away stood Yamato, Takeru, Hikari, Miyako, Iori, Sora, and Koushiro. 

Before them, stood their digimon; minus Gabumon, who was already fighting. Patamon, Tailmon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Biyomon, Palmon, Gomamon, and Tentomon were all beaming at them. They all looked as though they had just been grouped together and dropped off, some still in their school uniforms while others were dressed up for the plans they had made that night. 

"Hey! It's everyone!" Daisuke cried out excitedly, raising an arm up to wave. 

Without another thought, the three of them ran up to their friends. 

"Hikari! Koushiro! But how?" was what Taichi wanted to know as his feet led him directly to his sister and boyfriend. 

Miyako, however, was the one who answered. She shrugged and glanced down at an equally confused Hawkmon. "We're not entirely sure. We were just all told to come here."  
Absently picking at a hole at the hem of Taichi's soccer jersey, Koushiro corrected her, "Well, to be more precise, we were all sent here. Some of us were even hunted down and practically forced here. Myself included." 

Taichi blinked at him and mumbled, "They interrupted your parents' anniversary dinner, didn't they?" Koushiro hummed his confirmation as he finally stopped messing with Taichi's shirt. 

Takeru smirked at Ken. "Why is it every time we go a while without hanging out, it feels like one of us is saving the other?"  
Ken shrugged. "Most likely because it's true." 

"I was in the middle of kendo practice when two men in suits knocked on our door and demanded I come with them. My grandpa almost didn't let me" provided Iori without prompt. 

"Yeah, and I was headed to the grocery store when they caught up with me" piped up Sora. 

Taichi blinked. "Wait, you said you had plans and that's why you couldn't come to our soccer match!" 

Sora blushed and looked away. "My plans got canceled suddenly." 

Hikari spoke up before Taichi could further comment on Sora's answer, giving her brother a concerned frown. "Taichi, are you guys alright?" 

Daisuke shrugged, deciding to answer instead since Taichi was still distracted. "I woke up today knowing I'd get quite the workout, but I thought it was going to be from our soccer match, not riding a bike all over downtown." 

"Just think, Daisuke, now you get to see ME!" jeered Miyako teasingly. Daisuke rolled her eyes at her. "Personally, I think its nice having everyone back together! I can't remember the last time I've seen everybody in one place!" gushed Miyako.

Hawkmon raised a wing in agreement. "I second that! This is quite splendid, though I do wish the circumstances were a bit better!" 

"But we're NOT all together! Where is Mimi!?" whined Palmon who felt completely out of the loop without her human partner. 

"Yeah! And Jyou isn't here either!" Gomamon was quick to point out. 

Ken looked down at the small seal-like digimon. "Mimi I can understand, but why isn't Jyou here?" He scratched at his arm almost nervously. 

Gomamon raised a fin as his way of shrugging. "That's what I was hoping you could tell me, silly!" 

"Mimi said she was on a flight to come here to watch our game but.." Taichi trailed off, glancing around the runway. "Judging by everything going on, I take it she didn't make it."  
Miyako and Hikari were huddled together over the Chosen of Light's cell phone. After a moment, Hikari leaned down and said quietly to Palmon. "There's still no service. I can't get through to her." Palmon softly cried, looking as though she were wilting from the sad news. 

A pained howl from Garurumon caught their attention and brought them back to reality. "Garurumon!" shouted Yamato in concern. 

"This Kuwagamon is stronger than any other digimon we've seen like him before" elaborated Ken for the others. "Even against all three of our digimon, they haven't been able to stop him. It simply doesn't make sense." 

Tentomon's wings started buzzing as he rose up from the ground and said, "I think it's time they get some back up!" He looked to Koushiro for permission. The red head nodded and pulled out his digivice. 

Gatomon looked up to Hikari. "This kitty is ready to be let out of the bag!" Hikari nodded. 

"Tentomon digivolve to........Kabuterimon!" 

"Gatomon digvolve to...... Angewomon!"

"Takeru!" cried out little Patamon. Takeru smiled down and nodded. 

"Patamon digivolve to......Angemon!" 

Kabuterimon, Angewomon, and Angemon all flew towards the opposing Kuwagamon just as it was about to attack the already beaten and exhaused ExVeemon on the ground. "Hand of Fate!" attacked Angemon, his attack slamming into Kuwagamon's jaw and pincers and sending him backwards into the ground. 

With the battle no longer on them, the three exhausted Champion level digimon were forced to de-digivolve to their Rookie levels. This brought their worried partners rushing over to them. Daisuke and Ken ran towards Veemon and Wormmon respectively while Taichi ran over to Agumon. With the battle still too close for comfort, all three of them scooped up their digimon and ran to safety. 

"It looks as though Kuwagamon is finally wearing down" noticed Sora. "Maybe now we can---" She cut herself off when two portals appeared on either side of the Kuwagamon who had just been hit by Kabuterimon's attack. From each portal appeared another Kuwagamon, much to everyone's shock and dismay. 

Yamato cursed, glancing over at his own Champion digimon who was off to the side catching his breath. "Well, that's certainly no good. Garurumon! Circle in from behind and see if you can't catch them off guard!" he called out. The wolf digimon nodded to his partner before doing just that. 

As they digimon continued to fight, Biyomon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon all looked to one another. "Well, no point in letting them have all the fun" chuckled Armadillomon.  
"Armadillomon digivolve to......Ankylomon!" 

"Hawkmon digivolve to.....Aquilamon!" 

"Biyomon digivolve to......Birdramon!" 

Koushiro watched the scene unfold before them with his dark eyes. "This is quite curious. As already stated, those Kuwagamon appear to be stronger than what we're used to. It shouldn't take this many Champion digimon to take down just three Champions. And even earlier it was three Champions against one. That is quite strange." 

"We're sorry we weren't strong enough" whimpered Wormmon from where he laid in Ken's arms. 

Ken was quick to shush him soothingly. "No! Don't blame yourself!" He gave Wormmon a gentle squeeze. "Like we've already guessed, something is different this time. Not to mention you guys are most likely a bit rusty. All three of you did fantastic though." 

"Thank you, Ken" mumbled a tired Agumon from where he was leaning against Taichi. "We really did try our best." Taichi reached down and fondly scratched the top of Agumon's head. 

"Yeah..." Veemon also mumbled from where Daisuke was holding him. 

Daisuke bounced Veemon in his arms a bit, gaining his mon's attention. "You kidding!? You guys were AWESOME! Couldn't be prouder of ya!" Veemon closed his eyes and smiled widely, blushing slightly from the high praise as he rested his head on Daisuke's shoulder. 

The battle continued and with a combined aerial attack from Aquilamon and Birdramon, one of the Kuwagamon was defeated and evaporated into peices of red and black data. At the same time, Kabuterimon and Ankylomon both attacked at once to defeat the second Kuwagamon, leaving only one more to go. 

As all the champion digimon gathered around to attack, another, much larger portal appeared from behind Kuwagamon who was kneeling on the ground waiting to be struck.  
To most everyone, it looked like just another portal like the ones they had seen before, yet to Hikari and Ken, they could hear waves of water clashing together. 

It was as though time had stopped for both Ken and Hikari as the portal fully opened. The sound of an ocean's waves crashing through to them. All other sounds around them faded into silence as the waves grew louder. Both Ken and Hikari tensed and shivered as though they'd been struck with a bucket of ice water. Wormmon glanced up from where Ken was holding him. "Ken-chan?" He didn't get an answer and no one else seemed to notice their turmoil as they all watched an emormous armored hand reach out from inside the black hole and grab onto the last remaining Kuwagamon. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, taking the unsuspecting digimon with it and leaving the Chosen children to gape as the portal closed back into nothing. 

Ken breathed heavily in the silence, his hold on Wormmon tighening. Still, no one seemed to notice there was something wrong. No one but Hikari, who took a step closer to him. She whispered to Ken, her voice small and wavering. "You heard it too, didn't you?" 

Ken didn't verbally reply for he didn't trust his voice, yet he did manage a nod. He then glanced down at Wormmon, who was looking up at him with his big blue eyes which were filled with worry. 

Hikari looked like she wanted to say more, but Takeru placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly and look to him. "That was something, wasn't it? We've never had a mysterious hand save us before, now have we?" he tried joking with her. Hikari nodded, but both of them knew something wasn't right as Takeru sobered up and asked, "Hey, you okay?" 

Hikari gave him the best smile she could muster and hoped it was convincing. "Yes. Just worried about everything that's going on." 

Takeru gave her a side hug. "Always worrying." 

All of their digimon de-digivolved back to their Rookie states, save for Gatomon, who went back to her Champion level. Giggles all filled the air as they all ran back to their partners. They were all greeted with hugs and laughs. 

Koushiro smiled up at Tentomon who flew back over to him, but his smile was quick to fade. "While I'm glad the fight is over, I'm deeply concerned as to what helped save us. If you can even call that a rescue."

"I'm just glad it's over" grumbled Sora with a wary glance towards the helicopters that were currently flying over the area. 

Iori nodded. "Yeah, we managed to defeat them. I just hope they don't come back." He glanced down at Armadillomon. 

"I agree. I certainly hope they don't. Because those digimon were able to cause an awful lot of damage in a short period of time they were here" agreed Koushiro. 

They all shuddered, hating to think of all the damage they'd seen in person and on the televison within the last few hours. They all silently watched as the helicopters used spotlights to survey the said damage and it looked as though officers and airport staff were slowly coming outside to check things out themselves. Peices of the airport now had large chunks taken out of them and most of the terminals they could see were all damaged. 

Takeru and Yamato turned around to the men in black suits and radio buds in their ears. "Frankly," began Yamato. "I'd like to know more about the humans who brought us all here. I'm thinking they must be government men. They clearly know something, but the question is how much?" 

"I tried asking one of them that and they wouldn't answer me" said Takeru as Patamon landed on his head and ruffling his fedora hat. 

Sora scoffed. "Well how can they just drop us off in the middle of all this and not explain to us what this is all about!?" 

Koushiro sat down and pulled out his laptop before he began typing. "I'm sure our list of questions will just keep growing before they give us any answers." He balanced the laptop on his legs, his eyes never leaving the screen. 

Taichi moved to stand behind Koushiro and knelt down beside him, giving the said men a wary look. "Well, one of those guys moonlights as a teacher because our driver was Mr. Nishijima." 

"No way! The calligraphy teacher from our school!?" gasped Miyako. 

"Yeah, which just leads to even more questions" groaned Taichi. 

"WOW! Palmon is here!" Everyone turned to the direction the voice came from and saw that it was none other than Mimi who was standing beside a black jeep with a suitcase next to her. Dragging her suitcase behind her, the wheels squealing from the force of her pace, she didn't stop until she practically crashed into them. "EEE! I'm so happy! Guys I finally made it!" 

"MIMI!" Palmon half sobbed in happiness. The plant digimon jumped up into Mimi's arms as the Chosen of Sincerity ran up to them. They hugged each other tightly and both squealed in excitement. "Oh, Mimi! I missed you so much!" 

"Oh! I missed you too, Palmon!" Mimi gushed. 

"When did you get back?" asked Hikari. Her eyes were still filled with worry but it was obvious she was using the greeting as a cover to shake off what they had just witnessed.  
Her question went ignored for the moment though as Mimi set Palmon down so that she could start hugging everyone else. Ken and Yamato, who were standing closest to her, were her first victims. "Oh, my God!! Ken and Yamato! Oh, it's so good to see you!!!" She hugged each other them tightly, causing their faces to turn red. 

Miyako and Sora were quick to save them by claiming their hugs next. Miyako especially. "Oh, my God! Mimi! I've missed you so much! Texting and talking through video chat is not NEAR good enough, girl!" reprimanded Miyako after she got her hug. 

Mimi giggled. "To answer your question Hikari" she quickly gave Hikari a hug before continuing. "I just arrived! And it was so sweet of you to send a driver for me." Mimi paused and raised a finger in the air before she began opening her suitcase and digging out bags of candy. "Oh! Before I forget! I brought treats for everyone! Oh, you simply MUST try these, you'll LOVE them! I'm currently obsessed with them! Aren't they the coolest colors!" She opened a bag and pulled one of the candies out, showing one that looked similar to a jelly bean that was half blue and half green. 

"Here Veemon, you look like you could use one!" offered Mimi. 

She handed the candy over to Veemon's extended hand. With one arm still wrapped around Daisuke's neck from where he was being held, Veemon popped the candy into his mouth and chewed loudly before declaring, "Wow! It's tasty! Thank you, Mimi!" 

Before long, there was a clamour of indistinct chatter as all the digimon gathered around. Ken and Daisuke set their partners down on the ground so that they could join in.  
"That was awful nice of you, Mimi" Iori commented as he was handed a bag. "Especially since you brought enough for each of us to get a bag." 

Mimi smiled widely. "Oh, no worries! You're my friends and I love giving things to those I care for!" 

"So, I guess my next question is, exactly how are we going to get home?" asked Sora. 

"Oh, that's easy! We can just get a ride from my driver! She said we could!" replied Mimi matter-of-factly as she turned and pointed at the jeep that had brought her here. Now looking more closely, they could see a woman with short hair sitting in the driver's seat watching them. 

"Hey" called out Iori, grabbing everyone's attention back. He began looking around the group and behind the digimon as though searching for someone. "Where's Gomamon? He was with us earlier." 

 

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Jyou ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. He threw down his pencil and leaned back in his chair. By the rate things were going, he was never going to be ready for the exams that were looming closer and closer. 

His eyes shifted away from his laptop and study sheets and landed on his phone which had been put on silent hours ago. He picked it up and found the long list of missed calls and texts that he had stubbornly ignoring. Without viewing them, he brought up his phone's browser, only to see an article concerning the Kuwagamon's attack through the city broadcasted on the main search site. 

Jyou sucked in a breath, his mind immediately going to the memory of the two men in suits who had tried coercing him into going with them. He'd known what they were after; what they had wanted. But he simply dind't have the time. He had to study if he wanted any chance of being a doctor. HIs future was at stake. He was no longer a child; this was real life and he couldn't just set things aside to go running off on some adventure. 

Setting his phone down, Jyou was about to pick up his pencil again when a soft tapping sound came from his window. Looking over, The Chosen of Reliability watched just in time as Gomamon opened up his bedroom window with a large goofy smile and clung to the window frame. 

"HI JYOU!" cried out Gomamon happily. "That's right! I'm baaaack!" His voice was so cheerful and sing-song that Jyou couldn't fight back the few tears that came to his eyes. Jyou pushed himself from his chair and scooped up his digimon partner, holding him tight. He may have studying to do, but perhaps he could spare a few moments to spend time with Gomamon. 

 

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	3. The Next Day

Chapter 3

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Everyone huddled into the back of the van, their driver never once saying a word. They quickly learned that the only way all eleven of them would all fit inside, along with their digimon, was if some of them held their digimon in their lap if they could. The larger digimon, like Gabumon and Agumon, sat at their partner's feet.

Miyako was the last one get inside the van, so she was sure to shut the door behind her. She adjusted Hawkmon in her grip, the bird digimon holding onto her shoulders in front of her. "Gee, our driver certainly is a ray of sunshine" she muttered sarcastically. 

"So just who is our driver anyway?" inquired Yamato suspciously as he glared at the back of their driver's head. 

"She sure is intimidating, whoever she is" commented Iori. He watched as Armadillomon curled up into a ball at his feet with a small smile. 

Taichi leaned back against the side of the van. "I'm just glad we all have a ride home." 

Daisuke, who was sitting between Ken and Takeru, pulled Veemon closer to his chest. "Yeah. Bad enough we had to ride halfway here on our bikes." 

Ken leaned further back next to Daisuke and Hikari, who was sitting on his other side, did the same, the two of them leaning against each other. Iori glanced their way, noting their worried looks. "Are you two alright?" 

Hikari smiled and nodded. "Just tired from all the excitement. Right, Ken?" 

Ken nodded, sending her a knowing look. 

Mimi, sitting between Koushiro and Sora, glanced around. "Say, I noticed Jyou and Gomamon weren't here. Where are they?"

Takeru shrugged, gently rubbing Patamon's back. "Good question, we don't know" he replied with a shrug. 

"I'm sure he had a good reason not to be here" said Miyako. "He's always so busy. I always try texting or calling him and I always feel like I'm interrupting him."  
"He is busy" Yamato spoke up, looking down at a sleeping Gabumon. "He's busy studying for his entrance exams for college." 

Daisuke leaned back with a groan. "Ugh, don't mention college around me. It's bad enough I have to finish high school still..." Ken gave him a wan and sympathetic smile.  
Miyako leaned over from where she sat on the other side of Takeru to glare at him. "Oh, stop your whining, Daisuke! Going to college is just a fact of life! It's to better your future! I think its great that Jyou is so dedicated to his goals to being a doctor." 

Daisuke pursed his lips. "Yeah, well, shame not all of us have ambitions to be doctors...." 

Sora sighed loudly. "Guys, please don't argue..." 

Mimi, sitting across from them, grew bored of their chatter, her eyes turning to Koushiro, who was sitting next to her and watching Taichi with a fond smile. Taichi's eyes moved to Mimi and Koushiro's followed. "What are you thinking about, Koushiro?" she inquired. 

Having been caught staring, Koushiro quickly looked away, leaning slightly towards Taichi. Mimi opened her mouth to tease him, but her eyes landed where Koushiro and Taichi were holding hands between them. Mimi's eyes instantly went wide. "Wait a second----" she whispered. "What am I missing?" She looked to the others for any kind of answer or confirmation. Most everyone was smirking knowingly. 

Taichi watched her, holding onto Koushiro's hand tighter when he felt the other's try to move away. Koushriro's face only grew more and more read until it matched his hair.  
"Are you two---" She watched as Koushiro grew more uncomfortable and embarrassed while Taichi just sat there looking smug. "Oh, my God! YOU ARE!? You two---Dating!? Since when?!" 

Taichi looked to Koushiro fondly, chuckling when he saw that he wouldn't be answering, so he did instead. "Eh, roughly 10 or so months? A little less than a year? Right, Kou?" 

Swallowing thickly and obviously trying to fight down his own blush by looking as serious as he could muster, he managed, "Nine months, three weeks, and four day to be precise." After saying those words then, he glanced at everyone's faces and realized instead of salvaging his integrity, he had only lost it further. 

"That is adorable. You know the exact number of days you've been dating?" gushed Sora. 

"That's beyond cute" giggled Miyako. 

Yamato sighed loudly. "Could we please focus? Yes, our great leader and the computer geek are dating. Can we change the subject?" 

Taichi frowned. "Hey, no need to be rude, Yamato." 

Mimi leaned closer to look at Yamato. "Sounds to me as though someone is jealous." 

It was Yamato's turn to blush. He quickly looked away. "Whatever. We should be talking about the events of this evening." 

"Don't you worry, Matty, Matchmaker Mimi will help you" declared Mimi in a sing a song voice. "You just don't want to talk about it right now in front of the others. I get it. We'll save our chat for later." She winked at her blonde friend who pouted and looked away. 

"Well, anyways, it's because of Taichi that you're here at all, isn't that right Mimi? He invited you to his, Daisuke's and Ken's soccer match" interjected Iori before the conversation could continue. 

Mimi leaned back in her seat. "Indeed so, Iori. And boy, was that flight a fortune! You owe me for this, Taichi!" 

Taichi's eyes widened as he sputtered in shock. "W-What? You can't be serious--"

Mimi laughed. "Nahh, I'm just kidding! Actually, my dad's work transferred him back here, so the timing couldn't have been more perfect. That's right! I'm here for good!" 

 

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Mrs. Ichijouji hummed lightly to herself as she cracked an egg and dropped the egg yolk into the searing pan. She then turned and lifted a hand to scratch gently between Wormmon's antennas, who was dozing on the kitchen counter. She giggled as Wormmon curled up into a ball, trying to fall deeper into sleep. On the television, the news woman was speaking about the events at the airport as Ken walked into the room. He frowned when he heard the news. "The unidentified creatures that appeared yesterday caused massive damage to the city and the airport. No serious injuries have been reported, but the closure of the airport and the cancellation of all the flights in and out is having a wide-ranging ripple effect on travel plans throughout the region." 

"Ken, dear" began Rumiko. She watched as her son sat at the kitchen counter opposite of her and gently tap one of Wormmon's antennas. As though sensing it was Ken messing with him this time, Wormmon uncurled and opened his eyes. He smiled sleepily at Ken before wriggling over to him so he could rest in front of Ken. "Those creatures they're talking about on the news, they're...." she trailed off as she struggled to find the right word. 

"Digimon" supplied Ken. He rubbed Wormmon's head fondly as the little caterpillar sleepily looked up at Rumiko. 

"Oh, yes. Digimon. That's what Wormmon is, right? That's what you told us" she double checked as she turned back to the breakfast on the stove. 

"Yeah. Wormmon is a digimon. And the Kuwagamon that they're talking about on the news is also a digimon. He's a bad digimon. While Wormmon is a good digimon." Ken sighed. "Sadly, it seems the people of this city can't tell the difference between the two like me and my friends can...." 

 

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The newscaster continued to speak on the television just like at Ken's apartment as Miyako cleaned her glasses in front of the bathroom mirror. She could hear her parents listening to the news as Hawkmon sat on the side of the bath tub and groomed his feathers. 

"The airlines are trying to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, yet the estimated time of the fix being sorted out is still unknown" said the woman on the screen. 

 

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Sora drank her coffee as she glared at the television in front of her. She didn't want to watch but she knew she had to. She had to stay informed with what all was happening out there. She hated the idea of anyone thinking anything badly of her sweet Biyomon, but there was nothing to be done about it now. The damage was already done. 

"These are believed to be the same creatures that have caused so much damage to the city several times in the past...." 

 

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Koushiro was busy typing away at his laptop, several large monitors behind his laptop all showing difference screens. One of them showed live coverage of footage of the damage that had been caused at the airport and downtown area. His expression was blank, though hsi dark eyes will filled with annoyance and anger. Without stopping in his coding, he turned his eyes to the screen with the news playing on it. 

"These are believed to be the same creatures that have caused so much damage to the city several times in the past. Only on this occasion, the appearance of some many of them at one time, meant that the destruction was more extensive than ever." 

He jumped when his cell phone chirped, his fingers finally freezing from their constant typing. He glanced at his phone and saw that it was Taichi. Picking up the phone to hsi ear, he said into it, "Hello, Tai-chan." 

"Hey, gorgeous" was the greeting he got. "Listen, I know what you're doing. You're in front of your computers coding away. It's half past seven. You're gonna be late if you don't leave now." 

Koushiro pushed himself back into his chair, taking his free hand and hitting the stop button the video that was playing the news. "I am. Of course, I am. How could I not be? You saw the damage and I know you've seen the news. Taichi, we have to figure out what's going on." 

"We will, I promise. Now get down here. I'm meeting you at the usual spot" instructed Taichi with no room for argument. 

Koushiro smiled. "I'll see you soon." 

"Later, gorgeous." 

 

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There was a knock on the door and Yamato was forced to tear his eyes away from the television to go and answer it. He put down the spatula for his breakfast that was still cooking on the stove and went to open the door. 

He sighed when he saw who was on the other side. "What are you doing here? You should be on your way to school." 

Takeru gave him a sarcastic smile. "Good morning to you too, big bro." He walked further into the apartment as Yamato closed the door behind him. Takeru frowned when he saw what his brother had been watching. 

"I've already spoken to dad. I saw him just before he went to work an hour ago. He's going to file an official complaint against the things those morons are saying about our digimon." 

Takeru sat down at the kitchen table, ruffling his hair with a hand. "Not entirely sure complaining is going to be changing the opinions out there..."  
They both listened. 

"We have asked several people for their reactions" the news caster was saying. 

The screen then changed to show a woman speaking into a microphone. "I'm worried those monsters could come back at any time. I just want them to go away and never come back! My daughter is so scared!" 

 

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It was no different at the Motomiya residence as Mr. and Mrs. Motomiya listened to the news. A man was now being interviewed. "My daughter is so scared. I hope that's the last we've seen of them." 

Daisuke fought the urge to curse in front of his parents and stormed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. 

"Daisuke! Don't slam the door like that!" he could hear his mother scold him. "You should be getting ready for school!" 

Her words went ignored as he paced around his room. 

The pile of clothes in the corner of his room shifted before Veemon's head popped up from the top. "Boy, I'm not used to your clothes actually smelling CLEAN! I like it when you have piles of CLEAN clothes to sleep on!" he announced happily. Though when he saw his partner's dark mood, his mood changed as well. "Aww, Daisuke, what is it? It's not what those people in the box are saying again, is it?" 

Daisuke glanced at Veemon before continuing his pacing. "I've told you, it's not a box, it's a television. And yes! I am still upset about what they're saying! They're acting like there's no difference between bad digimon and the good ones." 

Veemon, ever the care free digimon, shrugged his shoulders. "That's just cause they've never met us! I have no doubt that if they got a chance to meet us good digimon, and not the bad ones, they'd love us!" 

That caught Daisuke's attention. He stopped his pacing and smiled down at his digimon, who was still half buried in his clean laundry. "You're right, buddy. I just wish they would keep their mouths shut and stop causing a panic." 

 

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Taichi listened to the first bell ring, announcing the first warning for students to get into the school. He opened his phone and saw that there was a text from Yamato. He quickly shut his phone off. 

"You know, ignoring Yamato's text is a really quick and easy way to get on his bad side" Koushiro spoke up with a knowing smile. "He probably just wants your opinion on the news from this morning. Or possibly just ask if you watched it." Taichi smiled back at him but it didn't listen. "Yeah, maybe." A frown quickly appeared as he knocked on the door to the teacher's offices. When he heard someone say he could come in, he opened the door with Koushiro following him. There were multiple desks and cubicles for each teacher. 

A teacher sitting closest to them looked up and asked, "Is there anything we can do to help you?"

Koushiro and Taichi shared a look before Taichi said, "Yeah. Is Mr. Nishijima here? We checked his classroom, but he wasn't there yet." 

The teacher nodded. "Ahh, yes. I'm afraid he's not here. He had something to do off campus today. Do you need him for something?" 

Trying very hard to hide his disappointment, Taichi shook his head and bowed. "No. But thank your for you time." 

The two Chosen walked out into the hallway with grim expressions. 

 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

 

Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Hikari, and Takeru all found themselves walking to school together just as they used to, only now with the new addition of Ken. It was rare these days, since a lot of the time Hikari walked to school with her brother, and Iori often had early morning kendo practice and went to school a different way. But with the events of the previous day still heavy in their minds, it was unanimous vote; they were all going to walk to school together.  
"Did you guys see the news?" Takeru asked tentatively as they reached the school grounds. 

Miyako groaned. She was dressed in her school uniform, constantly fiddling with the skirt that she hated wearing. Daisuke, Takeru, Hikari, and Miyako were all dressed in their green middle school uniforms while Ken was wearing his light blue jacket and trouser uniform for high school. Iori, still being the youngest grade, had yet to be required to wear a uniform, therefore wearing a brown shirt, jeans, and brown boots. "Of course I heard it. My parents insisted on listening to it this morning. I'm just glad my siblings aren't at home anymore because they would have been dramatizing it all even more than the media!" 

Iori sighed. "I'm torn. A part of me gets why everyone is so upset, but they just don't know the full story. Our digimon were trying to help the situation and half the news coverage shows images of our digimon in a violent light." 

Hikari, who was walking next to Ken, glanced at the taller teen, opening and closing her mouth as she she wanted to say something to him. After a moment, Ken noticed and made eye contact with her. He shook his head slightly and Hikari nodded, looking away. 

Daisuke was the only one who seemed to notice their silent communication since he was walking behind them. "Are you two alright?" 

Both Ken and Hikari turned to look at Daisuke and smiled. 

"We're fine" assured Hikari. 

Ken didn't say anything, but he stopped walking so he could walk in step with Daisuke side by side. 

Once they walked through the front doors of the school, Ken started heading in one direction while the other five of them walked in the other. Middle school classes were in one wing of the campus while high school classes were in a separate wing on the other side. It helped that they were able to walk to school together though since they lived across the street from one another. 

Miyako frowned. "You may not be clear over in Tamachi anymore, Ken, but it still sucks that you're on the other side of the school."  
Ken shrugged. "It's not a big deal. You'll be over on my side next year, Miyako, and it's not like I'm by myself. I'm in the same class as Koushiro and sometimes I get to see Yamato in the hallways between classes." 

Iori smiled. "It sure is nice to have you with us though, Ken. I know school's only been back in session for a couple weeks, but its made a big difference for you, I'm sure!"  
Takeru chuckled. "Yeah, like not having nearly as long of a walk or a train ride just to see your friends!" 

Raising his eyesbrows and making a face at the memories of doing just that, Ken nodded. "Most certainly. 

Daisuke spoke up, "Anyways, guys, we'd best get going." 

Everyone nodded, though Miyako rolled her eyes and dramatically turned away. "Pfft, that's just Daisuke's fancy way of saying he wants a moment alone to drool all over his boyfriend." 

Takeru, Hikari, and Iori all laughed nervously before waving theor goodbye and walking away, dragging an unwilling Miyako with them. 

Daisuke, meanwhile, was busy making faces at her. "Sure you don't want some lemons to go along with all that bitterness, Miyako!?" he taunted. His taunt went ignored.  
Ken gently grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close, both of them ignoring the other mingling students around them. The two of them could not look more like opposites. Ken looked like the perfect student, his uniform looking impeccable and without a wrinkle in sight and his hair flawless. Daisuke, though, was half dressed, since his shirt wasn't properly tucked in and his jacket was swung over his shoulder.

Ken turned and smiled at Daisuke, showing him the paperwork in his hands. "I know we usually spend this time to chat before rushing to class but I have to go drop this off at the office." 

"Aww, that's a bummer. But wait, I thought you said you were done with all those transcript papers and placement tests" blinked Daisuke in confusion. 

Ken nodded. "I am, but I guess my mom forgot to sign one of the forms, so I'm giving it back to them signed." Ken leaned forward and kissed Daisuke on the cheek.  
"Gotchya!" smiled Daisuke. "Well, see you later then, I guess!" As he turned to head to class, Ken called out to him, causing him to stop mid motion to look back at him. 

"Oh, and Daisuke?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Tuck in your shirt, you look a mess. And also, you're supposed to actually wear the jacket, not just carry it around with you over your shoulder" the other teen said wryly with a soft grin. 

Daisuke looked down at his school uniform, seeing his shirt tails hanging limply and in bad need of being ironed. He also noted that his tie was tied very loosely and not sitting straight. Ken shook his head, forgetting the school office for a moment to walk up to Daisuke and help adjust his tie. 

"Honestly, Daisuke, you'd think by now you'd know how to properly dress yourself" admonished Ken. 

Daisuke rolled his eyes as he started tucking in his shirt while Ken worked on his tie. "I know how to dress myself, I'm just not a big fan of uniforms. I should be able to decide what I want to wear and not have to deal with ties and dress shirts!" 

Ken was busy adjusting and straightening the tie around Daisuke's neck to look into his eyes while he spoke, "I guess I never gave it much thought. I've worn a uniform for a long time. Tamachi required even middle school students to wear uniforms." 

Daisuke made a noise in his throat that resembled a grunt. "Yeah, I remember those awful gray uniforms Tamachi made you wear. At least here we get to wear colors." 

Finishing with the tie, Ken looked down at him, since he was several inches taller than Daisuke, and gave him a flirty look. "Are you saying I didn't look good in my old Tamachi uniform?" he asked playfully. He held on to Daisuke's tie to keep the other close. 

Daisuke returned his smirk and stepped closer, getting right into Ken's face. "Hardly. You make anything look good. You could wear a paper bag and make it work. But yeah, I'm glad you're not wearing that old uniform anymore. Just be grateful you get to wear light blue and not this green color. Guess that's one of the perks of ranking to a higher grade on your placement exams, huh?" 

Ken hummed in agreement, refusing to back down from their staring contest. "Definitely. I was not looking forward to wearing green in the slightest." He finally released Daisuke's tie and stepped back. "It would have clashed with my hair" he mumbled in afterthought. He raised the forms in his hand up to eye level. "Now if you'll excuse me, your upperclassman needs to go to the school office." 

Daisuke snorted. "Upperclassman. Right. Forget the fact we're the same age." He leaned forward and kissed Ken on the cheek. "Whatever keeps your confidence up, moonlight."  
Ken blushed at the nickname but tried to hide it by looking away. "Just keep your shirt tucked in. Better chance of the teachers not confusing you for a neanderthal."  
"Too late!" laughed Daisuke as he started walking down the hallway. He waved. "Catch ya later!" 

"Until then, sunshine" Ken called back. He then turned his attention to the task at hand. He went down to the office a short distance away and walked in. In front of him, standing before the registration desk, stood a girl around his height with long indigo hair not dissimilar to his own in color. He stopped a respectful amount of feet behind her and waited, his hands in front of him as he held onto his form. He leaned to the right a bit and took notice that no one was sitting at the desk, which would explain why a line to wait was forming. 

"Achoo!" 

"Bless you" Ken muttered quietly out of habit. 

The girl whirled around, her long hair flying, until she was facing Ken, who took a step back at the sudden movement. "Oh!" the girl squeaked. "I'm so sorry! You startled me!" Her voice was soft and high pitched as she bowed awkwardly. 

Ken gave her a soft smile. "It's alright. I didn't mean to frighten you. You sneezed and I just responded without thinking." 

Instead of calming the girl, like he was hoping, Ken only seemed to make things worse when she finally raised her eyes to see who she was talking to. Her face turned red instantly. "Oh, my goodness! You're---You're Ken Ichijouji!" 

Ken blinked for a moment as he processed her words before taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly; closing his eyes as well. Yet another soul who's heard of his reputation the region's genius student. He looked down and opened them before saying, "Yes. Hello. I am Ken Ichijouji. It's a pleasure to meet you. What's your name?" He offered his hand out in greeting. 

The girl took a step back in shyness, pressing her hands up to cover her mouth. "M-Meiko M-Mochizuki." 

Ken smiled at her kindly. "Nice to meet you Meiko. Are you waiting for someone to help you here at the desk too?" He pointed to the registration desk behind her.  
Meiko turned and looked at the desk before turning back and nodding, her hands still covering her mouth. 

"You don't have to be shy around me. I'm just me. Since you know my name, I take it you know I'm known as the local genius kid, well, I promise you, I'm actually pretty average when it all comes down to it." He paused, waiting for what she had to say. "I'm new here. I don't go to Tamachi anymore, as of this semester. Are you new too?" 

Meiko nodded, finally taking her hands away from her mouth and wringing them nervously in front of her. "Y-Yes. I just...transferred. Achoo!" She covered her nose just in time. "I"m so sorry! I sneeze whenever I'm nervous!" 

Ken chuckled softly. "It's okay. No need to be nervous around me. I can be your friend, if you want me to be. We can be newbies at this school together." 

It was then that the woman working at the registration desk finally came back from one of the back offices behind the desk. She sat down and addressed the two of them. "So sorry to make you wait, dears. Is there anything I can help you with?" 

Meiko nodded. "Yes, I---I came here for my class schedule. I-I was told I could get it here. I'm M-Meiko Mochizuki." 

The woman's dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun, which she took a hand to adjust as she looked down at the papers before her. After a moment she found what she was looking for. "Ahh, yes. Miss Mochizuki. Here you are, dear. If you have any questions or need to rearrange your classes, just come down and let us know." 

Meiko bowed politely. "Thank you." She then turned, nearly bumping into Ken, who simply smiled at her and moved out of her way. Just before she left, Ken heard her say in a hushed and nervous voice, "It was very nice meeting you!" 

Ken watched her go out the door, shaking his head fondly before turning to the desk. Just as he opened his mouth to talk to the woman, he was interrupted by someone slamming their body into his in a tight hug from behind. "KEEEEN!!!" 

Ken leaned forward, trying not to fall over by bracing himself with a hand on the desk. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Hi, Mimi." 

"Ooooh, what are YOU doing here!?" demanded the Chosen of Sincerity. She let go of Ken and allowed him to turn around to face her. She gasped. "Wait! Do you go to this school now too!? No more hour long trips to Tamachi!?" 

Ken smiled widely at her before handing the form to the woman at the desk. To the lady he said, "This is just a form my mom had forgotten to sign. It goes along with all of my other transfer papers. I'm Ken Ichijouji." 

"Oh, alright. Thank you, dear. I'll add it to your file right now" was the reply he received. 

With his task finally completed, Ken was able to give his full attention to his friend. "Yeah, my parents and I moved here to Odaiba about three weeks ago. But for the majority of school break I've been practicing on the school soccer team so that I wouldn't miss out on try-outs or practices. I live across the street from Daisuke now, actually." 

Mimi clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, this is so amazing! I love this! Everyone's back together! It's just like old times!" 

Ken nodded. "It seems that way. I'll let you talk with...whoever you need to talk to for registration and I'll see you around. If you get done in time I think several of us will be in the cafeteria eating lunch." 

Mimi smiled. "Alright, boo! See you!" 

Ken waved and walked out of the registration office and walked down towards the cafeteria where he knew more of his friends were waiting. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The second bell which announced lunch period rang through the halls of the school as students began filling the hallways with their loud chatter. In the middle of the hallway next to a long line of windows that faced the courtyard stood Taichi and Yamato. Sora and Koushiro were quick to join them once they got out of their classes. 

"Did you hear the news?" Yamato was the first to break the ice, his voice deep and full of annoyance. 

"Yeah, it's out of control what they're saying" mumbled Sora as she glanced out the windows. She turned to Taichi. "Were you able to speak with Mr. Nishijima?" 

Taichi ran a hand through his thick brown hair and shook his head. "No. Mr. Nishijima wasn't there when we went to his office and when Kou and I went down to the teacher's lounge, they said we was off campus." 

"Too bad, we had a ton of questions for him" replied Sora. "So your soccer match was postponed?" Taichi nodded. 

"Same with my band gig" grunted Yamato, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "Just until things settle down is all." 

"That's the hope anyways" mumbled Taichi. 

There was a lull in the conversation and silence encircled them. At least until two students walked past them, talking quietly to themselves. "So you're trying to tell me that nobody has any ideas why those giant freaks are here? Or what they want? Why would they just show up and start fighting each other? It doesn't make any sense!" 

His friend shrugged before replying, "I guess. I just wish they'd Well, fight somewhere else and maybe wipe each other out in the process." 

They all heard Yamato start to breath heavier, growing tense as his shoulder raised. It was obvious their friend wanted to pounce on the two students. 

Taichi was quick to react. He grabbed Yamato by the arm. "Hey! Calm down!" 

Yamato turned and glared at Taichi. "Calm down!?"

Koushiro cleared his throat and both of them looked up to see they had gotten the attention of the two male students who had been speaking. Taichi groaned inwardly. "It's nothing! We're cool!" He waited until he saw the other two boys frown and glare before turning to continue walking down the hallway. He then went back to Yamato. "Come on. Do you really think getting mad is gonna help anything?"

"Got a better plan?" he jeered. 

Koushiro was the one who answered. "Well, I do. I say we need to talk about this. Perhaps meet up after school?" 

Sora nodded. "I agree. We'll text everyone and come up with a place to meet after school."

()()()()()()()()()()()()())()

Just as they had planned, everyone was contacted and everyone agreed to meet up to discuss the last twenty-four hours. Their meeting spot ended up being underneath a bridge along a walking path that connected to the Odaiba Public Park. It was secluded and would allow them to have plenty of privacy for what they were about to discuss. 

Koushiro and Taichi were one of the first to arrive at the chosen spot; Sora and Biyomon having been the first ones there since she had picked the location. Koushiro sat down on the cement and crossed his laps, cradling his laptop in front of him. Tentomon, who had been flying next to Koushiro, landed beside him, the hum of his wings going silent as he made himself comfortable. Agumon plopped himself down next to Tentomon with a loud yawn. 

"Wake me when the meeting starts" he yawned, before promptly falling backwards until he was sleeping on his back; soft snores already starting. 

Taichi shook his head at his digimon's actions before crouching down beside Koushiro and kissing his cheek, causing the other to blush. "We're not in public" he defended himself.

Koushiro smiled at him, his fingers frozen inches above the keyboard. "I wasn't complaining." He leaned over so that he could kiss Taichi's cheek in return. 

Sora glanced at her watch and saw that there were still several minutes before the designated time to meet up. Yamato soon showed up, along with Takeru and Hikari. "Yamato, can you at least TRY not to look so angry and sulky?" Gabumon, who had been walking beside him, grabbed hold of Yamato's right hand in support, looking up at his partner reassuringly. 

Yamato raised an eyebrow, digging his free hand into his pockets. "I'm not angry or sulking." 

"Then stop looking like you are!" laughed Sora as Hikari and Gatomon stood beside her. 

Takeru chuckled and jabbed his thumb towards his brother. "It's just his natural state. He can't help it." Patamon giggled from where he sat on top of Takeru's fedora hat.  
Yamato growled. "Shut up." He walked over and found a spot next to a pillar of the bridge and leaned against it; Gabumon faithfully following suit and sitting down next to his feet. 

A couple minutes later, Daisuke and Ken arrived with Veemon and Wormmon. Wormmon was perched up on Ken's shoulder while Veemon was bouncing happily next to Daisuke. 

"Hey guys!" greeted Daisuke. 

"HEY GUYS!" echoed Veemon loudly. 

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "Indoor voices, Veemon!" 

"But we're not inside!" argued Veemon. 

"Ugh, you know what I mean! Do you want half the city to hear you!?" groaned Daisuke. 

Ken only chuckled as he walked past the two of them and received a hug from Sora and Hikari. Wormmon jumped off his shoulder and landed in the center of their group, waiting for Veemon to join him once he and Daisuke were done bickering. 

Taichi shook his head in amusement at Daisuke and Veemon. "Good grief, you two. Give it a rest." 

"He started it!" accused Veemon. 

This caused everyone to laugh. 

Takeru's good humor was quick to fade when he glanced over at Hikari, who was biting her lip as she watched the water slowly move and catch the light of the sun. He glanced at the others who were talking among themselves before beginning a quiet conversation; grateful that Patamon had decided to fly down and sit next to his fellow digimon. To Hikari he asked, "Hey, are you alright?" 

Hikari started, looking to Takeru in surprise. "Oh! No, Takeru. It's nothing." 

Takeru sighed, stepping closer to his friend. "It's not nothing. I know that look. You're very worried about something, I know it." He paused, giving Hikari a chance to say something but when she stayed silent, he pressed on. "Listen, Hikari, please don't bottle it up. I know you may think you're doing the right thing, but you're only hurting yourself. And me." 

Hikari blinked at his words, her full attention suddenly on him. "Oh, Takeru, I...I don't mean to hurt you" she whispered instantly. 

Takeru nodded. "I know you don't. " He raised a hand and softly caressed Hikari's cheek, smiling at her sadly but fondly. "And maybe if it's something you can't talk about...maybe find someone else to talk to. I just hate the idea of you suffering alone. I really wish you wouldn't." 

Hikari worried her lip a bit more before finally admitting, "Yesterday just brought up some bad memories..." 

Takeru titled his head in confusion, staring at her intently as he tried to figure out what she meant. It then dawned on him. The one thing Hikari always hated to discuss with anyone. "The Dark Ocean." 

Hikari nodded. 

"Have you spoken to Ken about it?" He glanced at the dark haired teen in question. 

Hikari looked away, her face covered with guilt. "Kind of. He knows I've thought about it. He's thought about it too because of....last night." Her eyes then went back to Ken, who was smirking at Daisuke as the two of them had a quiet moment to themselves. She got lost in thought as she watched them, wondering how Ken was able to act so nonchalant about it all. They had both heard the waves of the Dark Ocean; something neither of them had heard for a long time; save for in their occasional nightmares. 

"Good."

That one word completely derailed Hikari's line of thinking and her eyes widened in shock as she turned to Takeru. "Good!?" 

Takeru nodded. "Yes. Talk to Ken about it. He can help you. You can help each other. While it kills me that I can't be the one to help you through whatever it is you're going through, I'd rather you not deal with it on your own. Ken understands darkness better than any of us. So, yeah. It's good you have Ken to talk to about it." 

Hikari smiled and opened her mouth to say something but the sound of Sora calling out and greeting someone stopped her. They both looked over to see Miyako, Iori, and Mimi walking towards them. 

"Hey guys! Thanks for coming!" hollered Sora over to them. 

Miyako was the first to reach them, giving Sora a big hug in the process. Biyomon flew over and landed next to Hawkmon; the two of them sharing their own set of hugs and greetings. Iori smiled as he and Armadillomon walked up to Takeru and Patamon. Once everyone had given their greetings, Mikayo squealed in excitement as she showed everyone the large duffel bag she had brought with her. "Alright, guys! Guess what I brought with me!" She tossed the bag down in the middle of their circle and the bag opened, revealing an large assortment of snacks and drinks. "Just like old times!" she laughed triumphantly. "Ah! Talk about nostalgia! It's like we're back in the computer lab at school all over again!" 

Mim clasped her hands together happily. "Don't I know it! I love this! I love being back in Japan!" 

All the digimon cooed and awed at the sight before all announcing, "Thanks, Miyako!" They all turned to their respective partners for permission before digging into the snacks. 

"Agumon! Wake up! There's food!" declared Gabumon, who tapped his friend on the head. 

Agumon instantly sat up, turning his head back and forth sleepily. "Food!? WHERE!?" 

Taichi groaned in embarrassment and amusement as Agumon tackled into the snacks. 

Iori cleared his throat and gently nudged Miyako with his elbow, making her exclaim, "Oh! Right! And I didn't forget about us humans!" She reached over to Iori, who was holding another duffel bag filled with food. 

Daisuke guffawed. "Dang, Miyako! That's a lot of food! Thanks!" 

Koushiro nodded. "Yes. Great idea. It'll be best if we've all got some food in our system when we discuss all this." 

"So, who's left? Who are we waiting on?" asked Hikari. 

Yamato was the one who responded quietly. "Jyou. He said he was on his way when I last texted him twenty minutes ago." He wasn't looking at anyone, instead watching as Gabumon snacked on the food Miyako had brought. "He said he was coming." 

As though he knew he was being spoken about, the frantic sound of Jyou calling over to them reached their ears. "I'm here, guys! Sorry I'm late!" 

Mimi stood from where she'd been crouching next to Palmon and waved excitedly. "JYOU!" She didn't even bother waiting for the oldest Chosen to reach them, instead choosing to run over to him and crush him in a large hug. "Ugh, it's simply been too long! And before I forget!" She pulled back and pushed a bag of gummies into Jyou's hands. "I brought you a present!" 

Jyou laughed as he looked at the bag of gummies. "Wow, thank you, Mimi! You haven't changed at all." The two of them then walked side by side back to the others. Jyou smiled around at everyone, waving his greeting to them. It was then that everyone noticed he was carrying a duffel bag once it began rustling around. A moment later, Gomamon poked his head out from the zipper. 

"Don't forget about me!" he announced. He looked down at his fellow digimon. "Hey! You guys better have left some for me!" Without waiting, he pawed his way out of the duffle bag and hopped down to the ground where Gatomon and Hawkmon both handed him some snacks. 

Jyou stood next to Yamato, who met eye contact with him and nodded in greeting. 

"Thank you for coming by, Jyou. We know how busy you are with studying and everything" thanked Sora. 

Jyou shrugged. "No, I needed to be here. We have a lot to discuss." 

Taichi spoke up, "Exactly, so now that we're all here and the digimon are all happy with their snacks, let's get this meeting going." He crouched down to where Koushiro had been busy typing on his laptop. He kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "Take it away, gorgeous." 

Koushiro nodded, leaning back a bit. "Alright, so, let's start by reviewing the situation at hand. I've gathered data on what I see to be six major recent phenomena. The first one being, that the gateway to the Digital World has been closed off for the last two and half years." 

"We wondered why you guys had stopped coming to visit us!" complained Agumon loudly where he sat by the snacks. 

Veemon raised a claw in the air. "Yeah! We missed you!" 

"Aww, we're sorry you guys!" sympathized Daisuke. He knelt down behind Veemon and wrapped his arms around him to hug him and pull him close to his chest.  
"It was our digivices. I think we all just sort of figured they had started to malfunction for some reason" said Takeru. 

Daisuke gave Veemon one final squeeze from his hug before releasing him and standing. "Yeah, well, I think they still are because Ken and I weren't able to DNA Digivolve!"  
Koushiro jutted in before anyone could speak and continued by saying, "That's phenomena number two: our digivices have been acting up. I didn't know about the Digivolution bit, so thank you for bringing that up. That just further confirms a few of my theories. Anyways, number three is that these specific areas around the waterfront shopping district have been experiencing frequency interferences, with mysterious blackouts right afterward. I believe that's connected to number four, which is these same frequency interferences are affecting networks that are not locally connected. This results in poor reception for cell phones, radios, and television broadcasts. Number five, a distortion in space caused by unknown forces has created a new link between us and the Digital World. That's how these digimon are coming into our world."

"Hold on" interupted Ken, which gained everyone's attention. "We've actually seen this before." 

Several voices spoke at once, all saying variations of "We have?" and "Really?" 

Ken nodded. "We've seen something like this twice actually. Do you remember when Owikawa was trying to open the Digital World with the dark spores? At the time, he hadn't known that the gateway had been sealed by BlackWarGreymon. That caused him to---" 

"--To open that gateway to that other dimension--Yes! I remember now!" exclaimed Koushiro excitedly. "I had forgotten about that detail!" 

Ken nodded. "The second time was when we banished Daemon to the Dark Ocean."

Hikari's breath caught in her throat as she looked to Ken. She remembered the difficult time Ken had gone through when banishing Daemon. It had taken the combined efforts of all their support to him face his inner darkness. Perhaps that was why Ken didn't seem as bothered by it as she did. Hikari sighed, earning a worried look from Takeru which she was quick to shrug off. 

"So you're saying that could be the same way Kuwagamon got though yesterday? By one of those distortions?" asked Sora for clarification. 

"It means, these distortions are not the first we've seen. I had completely forgotten about that. I'll have to add to my notes. But to conclude what I was saying, the sixth phenomena actually coincides with what Ken said. The digimon coming through these distortions are different from any we've seen before. Much like Daemon. He is a digimon we had never seen before and he was quite powerful. Now, I can't say this for sure about Daemon, but the Kuwagamon we saw yesterday appeared to be mutated somehow by forces unknown. I think its safe to assume that all these phenomena are a result of this distortion." 

"So what did you mean earlier about the interferences? What does that have to do with the distortions?" pondered Iori. 

Koushiro smiled at him before answering. "They're all interconnected. When a frequency interference takes place, it's happening at the same time a distortion happens. I didn't see it at first, but now I'm sure of it. The frequency interferences are clearly caused by the distortion as was proven by what happened yesterday, and the distortion caused the link between the Digital World and our world. It looks like the digital world is forcibly intruding itself into our network. Why, we don't know." 

Hikari cleared her throat. "Onii-chan, were you able to talk with Mr. Nishijima?" 

Taichi shook his head. "No. He didn't come to school today." 

"Who's Mr. Nishijima?" asked Mimi. 

"He's a teacher at our school. He teaches calligraphy, so you might end up being in his class" answered Yamato. 

Mimi hummed in thought at that, then her expression turned somber. "Guys, did you hear all those terrible things they were saying on the news?" 

"It was awful" wailed Palmon. 

"They act like all digimon are the same" added Takeru. "All evil creatures who want to destroy everything...." 

Everyone shivered at the thought, their eyes all turning to their digimon partners. The food had long been eaten and now everyone sat down and pulled their digimon close. 

Patamon flew up and landed on top of Takeru's head. "We're not evil...." he whimpered. 

"Jerks" growled Yamato. Gabumon placed a paw on Yamato's shoulder. "I'm gonna have my dad file an official complaint." 

"As much as that's appreciated, Yamato, I'm afraid that won't do much in changing the mind of the people in the city" remorsed Iori as he petted the top of Armadillomon's head.  
"You know it's just all the media outlets trying to boost their ratings by sensationalizing everything. They just want attention" sighed Jyou. 

"Well, they can just get their attention somewhere else!" grumbled Veemon as he crossed his arms. "Leave us digimon alone! Sure, we knock a building or two down from time to time---It probably needed remodeled!" 

Daisuke shook his head. "That's not all that reassuring, Vee." 

"I don't understand why humans have to make things so complicated! We could just flat out talk to them and say we're not a threat!" suggested Biyomon.  
Sora squeaked and pulled Biyomon close. "Yikes! That is far from a good idea! Most people aren't as understanding as we are about digimon! They'd want to take you away from us and study you and lock you away!" 

Wormmon turned to Ken and looked up at him. "I don't mind staying in hiding. I get to stay with you Ken and I get to help your mom cook and watch that television box with your dad." Ken smiled down at Wormmon, reaching down and picking him up to hold in his arms. 

Taichi blew out a breath loudly. "You have to admit though, some of the things they said were true." That gained everyone's attention. "Well, I mean, think about it. A lot of the city and the airport did get destroyed." 

Everyone hummed in thought. 

Tentomon raised a claw. "Well, it most certainly is a conundrum we have on our hands, isn't it?" He turned to Koushiro for confirmation. 

Koushiro nodded. "Things are certainly out of control. We're gonna have to monitor the news and keep up with it, along with making sure to keep our digimon out of sight as much as possible." 

"I'll go find that hoodie I used to wear" deadpanned Tentomon. 

Mimi grunted in disaproval. "I just wish they would realize that it would have been worse if our digimon hadn't been there to stop them. A whole lot worse!" She looked down to watch as Palmon climbed into her lap to comfort her. 

"That's right!" barked out Yamato, his voice raising. "But nobody realizes that our digimon aren't the problem! It's those stupid news people that's saying they are! It's pissing me off!" 

Jyou stood up. "I'm sorry to break this up, but I'm gonna have to get going." He bowed in apology. "I'm glad I was able to join in, but I'm afraid my free time is up."  
Gomamon whined a bit as he pulled away from the little dogpile some of the digimon had created so that he could follow Jyou. 

Yamato, who was standing beside him, quickly rose up too; startling Gabumon. "That's all you've got? You were here for hardly ten minutes!" 

Jyou gave him a sheepish one shouldered shrug. "I"m sorry, Yamato, but that's all the time I have--" 

"Be easy on him, Yamato. College entrance exams are rough" Ken called over from the other side of the group. He was sitting crossed legged with Wormmon in his lap. 

Yamato growled in frustration. Come on! How are we supposed to figure out what's going on and come up with a game plan if Mr. Doctor over here is only gonna leave us after ten minutes!? You all heard what Koushiro said. There's something bad starting to happen! And if we've learned anything from the past, it's that we're best as a team! Don't you remember how hard we all had to fight together!?" 

"Well, yeah, but, we still have lives to live, Yamato" argued Taichi weakly. He looked uncertain and looked away when Yamato's angry glare fell onto him. Jyou simply backed up, trying to put more space between them. 

"Don't even get me started with you, Taichi!" sneered Yamato. 

"I hate to break it to you, Yamato, but some of us have higher ambitions for our future than becoming an overnight rock star." 

The silence was deafening after Jyou's remark. 

Yamato slowly turned his eyes to Jyou, his face filled with shock, anger, and hurt. "Excuse me!?" 

Jyou took a couple more steps back. "I shouldn't have said anything." His voice cracked. 

"What did you mean by that?" demanded Yamato. "What aren't you saying!?" 

"I----" choked Jyou, nervously running a hand through his hair. He normally pale skin went even paler, to the point where it looked more grey.  
"Jyou?" whispered Gomamon worriedly. 

With a squeak of anxiety escaping him, Jyou turned and ran. 

"Wait--Jyou!" called out Iori. They all watched him go, Gomamon doing his best to run after him and calling to him.  
"What was that about?" questioned Daisuke, breaking the ice a little.

Takeru stood up and walked over to Yamato, who was still glaring at Jyou's running figure in the distance. "Come on, now, Yamato. It's Jyou. He never means any harm. He's under a lot more stress than we are." 

Yamato said nothing, but seemed far less angry than he had been a moment prior. 

Miyako started gathering up all the trash from the snacks she had brought. "Well, I suppose that means this meeting in adjourned. Maybe we can have another meeting in a couple days after we've done some more research." 

Koushiro nodded. "Yes, that would be great. There are still a few more theories of mine I would like to look into." 

Miyako, who had been busy on her phone for the last few minutes, started reading out loud an article she had found. "Hey guys, listen to this! According to this main news site, there was a major power outage in Kyoto. Most of Southern Kyoto has been out of power after there was a large explosion at a major power plant. Sources say there are still little to no understandings to what had happened, but speculation says that it was some kind of electrical interference. Eye witnesses are saying that strange creatures were spotted on the scene along with strange electrical surges." She looked up from her phone to peer up at Koushiro, who had been listening intently. "Do you think that's the same kind of inferences you were talking about Koushiro?" 

Koushiro hummed in thought. "Most likely. That is quite disturbing news. I will most definitely be checking further into that. Thank you, Miyako." 

"Kyoto was the same place that BlackWarGreymon and those other digimon showed up during Miyako's field trip that one time. Do you suppose the two incidents could be connected?" suggested Ken. 

"Oh, that's right! I forgot about that!" exclaimed Miyako. 

"Anything is possible" muttered Koushiro, now deeply engrossed in his laptop. 

Tentomon groaned. "Oh, I know what that look means!" He turned to the group. "I think it's best we end this meeting. Koushiro won't be much company for a while. Heh heh." 

Taichi smiled and sat down next to his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around the red head genius. "Look at him go" he sighed fondly. "Isn't he amazing?" Koushiro didn't even acknowledge Taichi as he was given a couple kisses on the cheek, his attention too wrapped up in his research. Though after a moment, Koushiro did push back and turn away long enough to lean into Taichi and give him a kiss back in return. 

Yamato made an annoyed sound in his throat. "Ugh, if this is all that's left to this meeting, I'm out. I'll be sick if I keep watching Taichi and Koushiro fawn over each other." 

Mimi wrapped an arm around him. "Ever so jealous and gloomy, Matty" she giggled. Yamato only rolled his eyes at her nickname for him. 

Iori stood. "I'll try and text Jyou tomorrow and try to talk to him. Try to figure out if anything is wrong." 

Taichi smiled at the youngest Chosen, his cheek pressed on the top of Koushiro's head as he continued to hold him close. "Thanks. That would be much appreciated." He glanced around at everyone else and saw that most of their digimon had fallen asleep. "Typical. Give them food and they're out like a light." 

"Alright buddy, come on. Home we go" urged Daisuke, pushing Veemon out from where he'd been in his lap. 

"Daisuke!" Veemon called out dramatically. He spun in his partner's arms before raising his arms over Daisuke's shoulders and leaning all his weight on him, refusing to let himself be moved. "I can't go on! I am in desperate need of a soft pillow and bed. I have no strength!" 

"Hmm. Shame. Too bad there's no one around to carry you" teased Daisuke. Veemon whined loudly. 

Everyone laughed. 

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	4. Meetings and Discussions

Light and Darkness 

Chapter 4 

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Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Firstly, thank you so much for reading! Secondly, I wanted to take note and let you all know that once again, this fic is not meant to be a re-write of Tri. It's more of an AU, if anything. But it still will not follow the exact storyline. So, in this chapter you will definitely start to see things going in different directions, Tri scenes missing, etc, etc. I'm only loosely basing this off Tri and using it more as a guide. So, if anyone gets upset that its not following Tri exactly, at least I've given you the heads up. Thank you very much for understanding. Enjoy! --EricaX

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"Should we really be doing this?" asked a nervous Hikari. 

"Why not!? We finally get to spend some serious time with our digimon partners in the real world! Who wants to stay cooped up in their apartments?!" giggled Mimi with enthusiasm oozing from every word. 

Miyako shrugged from where she was standing next to her. "Come on! It's not like we haven't hidden our digimon in plain view before!" she reasoned. "What could go wrong?"  
Hikari and Sora, both wearing skeptical expressions, glanced down at their partners. Palmon was hearing an off white shirt that was about four sizes too big for her and a matching bonnet hat to match. Hawkmon was wearing a loose burgundy hoodie with a hood over his head and sunglasses. Biyomon was also wearing sunglasses underneath a blue beanie and a striped tank shirt while Gatomon was wearing an oversized yellow turtle neck sweater that covered half her face and glasses sitting on the top of her head. 

Hikari sighed and closed her eyes. She leaned in towards Sora. "Sora, we really need to make it a rule that Mimi and Miyako are not allowed to scheme together." 

Sora nodded. "Agreed." 

It didn't take long before the girls found themselves at a local restaurant, after having to get past the old lady who was hosting. The woman had seemed suspicious of the strange appearance of the digimon, but simply called them out for their strange costumes and allowed them inside to eat. 

All eight of them sat at two tables that had been pushed together; plates filled with food sitting before them. 

Mimi raised the first bite to her mouth, making sure to blow on it first. "Oh, boy! So yummy!" she gushed, a hand going to her cheek. "This is the kind of food I missed the most while I was away! It's the best!" 

"I agree!" cried out Palmon. 

"I wish there was someone who could cook like this in the Digital World!" complimented Gatomon. 

"Ugh, I'm just so glad you're back, Mimi! I've missed you so much!" said Miyako. She reached over and grabbed Mimi's free hand. "It's been like missing a part of my soul!" Her dramatics were met by Mimi's own, who held tightly to Miyako's hand; tears starting to form in her eyes. 

"Oh, I know, Miyako! Those video chats were great but just not the same!" she replied with equal emotion. 

Hiari squeaked after taking a bite. "Oh, hot!" She chewed and swallowed before addressing them all. "Okay, so, anyways, what were we talking about?" 

"What to do about Jyou and Yamato" answered Sora around her food. 

"What about 'em?" shrugged Mimi before taking another bite. "Let 'em be. Iori was gonna go visiti Jyou to check on him anyways." 

"But--" Sora began to protest. 

Mimi's eyes glinted gleefully. "You can't keep away from them. "She ignored Sora's indignant grunt. "They did get pretty foxy while I was gone. It's only a shame that Taichi and Koushiro bat for the same team we do...." 

Miyako sighed dramatically. "You don't know the half of it." 

"Hmmm?" blinked Mimi. 

"Of course, my all time dream boat, and who was supposed to be my husband-to-be, happens to play for the same team too!" she wailed. She took another large bite in her misery. 

"Who? Another one of OUR boys?" She gasped. She tried to recall if Miyako had ever confessed to her about any guys she had liked. "Noooo! KEN!?" She looked at the faces of Hikari and Sora for confirmation before turning back to Miyako. "He's into boys too!?" 

Miyako nodded sadly. "Unfortunately. I mean, don't get me wrong--I have nothing against it. Love is love. But Ken was my first major crush, so it's bound to sting a little bit. Either way, I can't really imagine Ken being any happier with anyone besides Daisuke---The two of them are practically glued at the hip--" 

"Excuse me---Ken and Daisuke are a couple!? How is it all our boys are hooking up? They're certainly not wasting any time and making us ladies look like last week's garbage!" cried out Mimi. 

Hikari laughed. "That's not what's happening at all. There's no harm in not having a boyfriend yet." 

Mimi grunted. "Hmm. That may be true, but I never would have thought our boys would have beat us to the punch." Mimi then shook her head in wonder. "Wow! I was so positive Daisuke was still chasing after you, Hikari! He did for so long after all!" 

Hikari went pink at the reminder of Daisuke's old crush on her. "Yeah. I'm glad too, because, really, I only ever saw him as a close friend. Now I see him as a second brother, if I'm being honest." 

Miyako snickered. "Heh, seriously, though, the instant Ken came into play, his crush on Hikari quickly faded and before long Ken was all he had had his eyes for. He was over the moon when they finally confessed to each other. Anyways" she paused as she took a sip of her drink. She then narrowed her eyes. "Which would do you think is cuter?" 

Sora gagged and coughed on the bite she had been taking and turning an even darker shade of red. Hikari's eyes widened as she watched her friend suffer. 

Miyako leaned casually on her elbow, her hand cupping her cheek in support as she glanced over at her friends with hlaf lidded eyes. "I already told you who I thought was the cutest" she mumbled. "It wasn't meant to be." 

Sora turned to her. "I've been meaning to ask you: does that bother you at all? That Ken is with Daisuke?" 

Miyako shrugged and stabbed one of her chopsticks into a piece of sesame chicken before lifting it up and examining it. "It used to, but not anymore. I was really bummed about it when they first started dating, since I had full intentions to ask Ken out at some point, but...." She set the chicken down. "Honestly? It's pretty hard to be upset whenever I see how happy Daisuke makes Ken. We all know he's had his struggles over the years, but being with Daisuke just genuinely makes him happy and that's really all I can ask for at the end of the day." 

Hikari smiled, her eyes wide as she looked at her friend with awe. "Wow, Miyako. That's really considerate of you." 

"Yeah, totally. I'm impressed!" gushed Mimi. 

Miyako sat up correctly in her chair and closed her eyes, a smug smile appearing on her lips. "Yeah, that and I told Daisuke that if he ever hurt Ken in the slightest way, I would hurt him worse than a dozen Monochromon could." 

Everyone laughed. "That's the Miyako we know and love!" laughed Sora. 

Mimi turned her eyes on Sora. "You never did answer my question. While half of our boys might already be taken, there are still some left in the running. What about Yamato? Or Jyou?" 

Sora sputtered once again, only this time not having the excuse of acting like she was nearly choking on something. This only make her face turn more red. 

"What about you and Takeru?" came Mimi's next blunt question to Hikari. 

Hikari blinked widely from where she sat across the table. "I don't know what you're trying to dig for. I've told you guys before, there is nothing between Takeru and me." 

Miyako snorted. "Right. Keep telling yourself, Hikari. But really, there is no need to deny. We all see it." 

Mimi nodded vigorously. "Mhhm!!" 

"What's 'foxy' mean?" piped up Palmon and therefore breaking the silence that had fallen over them. 

"I do believe it means that someone is a nice catch!" answered Hawkmon matter-of-factly. 

"Oh, I see" replied Biyomon. "So, it's like fishing!" 

All four girls giggled and blushed at the misunderstanding but said nothing to correct them. 

"So who do you think is cute?" was Palmon's next question.

It was aimed at Biyomon, but it Gatomon who answered. 

"Well, personally, I would prefer Lynx-y to Foxy" Gatmon purred playfully. 

Sora shook her head as she went to stand up. Gatomon instantly looked up and raised her empty plate. "Can we have some more, Sora?" 

"Yes! Yes! Me too, please!" cried out Biymon. 

"Yes, more for me as well, please!" joined Hawkmon. 

Miyako rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you could still possibly be hungry, Hawkmon, seeing you as ate so much food this morning" she groused. "Not to mention those two huge plate fulls you just had." 

Hawkmon raised a feather at her. "I'll have you know, that while the food you gave me this morning way delicious, I am still a very intuitive and clever mon, meaning I need as much food to sustain me as possible." 

Miyako just rolled her eyes while the other digimon blinked at him owlishly. 

"Okay, okay, hang on!" sighed Sora in resignation. "I'll see what I can do." She turned and called out to one of the staff members of the restaurant. 

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The bell rang, announcing the end of the school day and while most students were walking off the school grounds and away from the building, Taichi was walking towards it, his hands dug deep into his jacket pockets. Students that knew him went to wave and say goodbye for the day but quickly stayed quiet once they saw the brooding look on the soccer player's face.

Taichi was far from caring. Frankly, he'd rather go play soccer, but he knew he had to come and have this conversation with Mr. Nishijima. The others were counting him as their leader; a thought that made a thick lump rise in his throat. 

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Taichi turned the corner to another hallway and stopped when he looked up to see Yamato standing outside of Mr. Nishijima's door. Nearly invisible standing next to Yamato's taller form, stood Iori, who waved politely. 

"Huh?" he breathed. "What are you doing here?" 

Yamato shot him a glare, his own hands buried in his pockets. His bangs were hiding half of his face. "Could ask you the same thing."  
Taichi closed the distance between and stopped before Yamato. "I was gonna just go home, but then I figured I'd check to see if Mr. Nishijima came in." 

Iori smiled. "Yes, I had the same thought you did. I just happened to run into Yamato along the way and he agreed to come with me." He glanced back and forth between the two of them almost nervously; waiting to see what the other would say. 

Yamato didn't answer, just watched as Taichi went to open the door. All three sets of eyes went wide with shock at the sight that laid before them.  
Mr. Nishijima turned from where he was sitting, a half eaten doughnut hanging out of his mouth. 

Nishijima waved. "Hey guys!" he said around the doughnut, his words barely understandable. 

It didn't take long for Nishijima to finish his doughnut and the questions began being asked. As the professor cleaned up his desk, Yamato and Taichi looked over the business card he had given them after they asked what his real job was. 

"How is that all one job?" Iori asked incredulously. 

Yamato began reading it off. "National Data Processing Bureau Information and Communication Strategy Section, Information Management Office, Management Officer Level Two, Daigo Nishijima." His eyes moved up to Nishijima as he set the card aside. 

"Are you even a real teacher?" 

The easy going calmness that Nishijima usually carried around him was gone as he looked to the two of them. The sunset was shining through the window and casting him in shadows, which only made him looking all the more daunting and mysterious. "Yes, but that is my main job. Lately a distortion field has formed between our world and the Digital World and digital monsters have been using it instead of the gate to come through.  
There was a lull in the conversation as the three Chosen allowed that to sink in. 

After setting aside some of his newly cleaned brushes, Nishijima continued, "We've been able to handle them so far, but now some extremely powerful ones are starting to appear. That's why we asked for your help. We call these new ones, 'infected digimon'. "

"Infected how?" Taichi wanted to know. 

Nishijima took in a deep breath before replying, "Certain digimon are being affected by some kind of powerful outside source, which is causing them to go berserk. Those are the ones we call infected." 

"Outside force?" parroted Yamato. 

Nishijima nodded, glancing out at the beautiful red and orange hued sunset. "Yes. but we don't know what it is yet." 

"Is there any way these infected digimon can be returned to normal again?" Iori's small voice asked. 

Nishijima studied the calligraphy that was laid out before him on his desk. "That's what we're hoping. There might be a way, but so far we haven't been able to find one." 

Yamato scoffed and looked away. "Sounds to me like there's a lot you don't know yet." 

Nishijima shrugged. "Yeah. The bottom line is, we just want to send these things back to where they came from as soon as possible." 

"Your group; who exactly are they and how did they come about this information? I mean, they even know about us Chosen" asked Yamato. 

"What happened at Highton View Terrace and the shopping district caught a lot of people's attention. Ever since those incidents, we've been systematically researching the digimon, and we first found out about you when a person by the name of Gennai contacted us" replied Nishijima.  
Iori hummed at the response, his eyes lighting up with interest. 

"Ahh, so Gennai is working with the government" mumbled Taichi. "I honestly didn't think he would. He always used to be so secretive in the past."  
Nishijima shrugged. "Perhaps he thought now was a critical enough emergency to start helping him. We haven't always had his help. This is more recent development, like within the last year or so. But he only contacts us as a source of information and he certainly seems to have a lot of information on your kids."

Taichi, Yamato, and Iori all glanced at each other being glancing down into their laps. It was Taichi who spoke again after a long moment, his voice quiet."He took care of us a long time ago." 

Nishijima took in a deep breath and stood up. "Well, anyway, the next time these infected digimon appear, we may need to call on you for help again. Can we count of you?" 

Yamato was quick to answer, gaining a look of concern from Taichi. "Of course. Any time." 

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Drip. The sound of a drop of water hitting a pool of liquid. 

Ken closed his eyes tightly. 

Drip. 

He kept hearing it. It wouldn't go away. Ever since Kuwagamon showed up, he's started to hear it whenever he was alone. The Dark Ocean.  
Ken only squeezed his eyes closed tighter as though that would make it go away. He then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 

There was a knock on the door. "Oh Ken dear? Daisuke and his digimon are here!" came his mother's cheery voice on the other side of the door.  
Pushing himself out of his thoughts, Ken opened his eyes. His breathing was still slightly stilted, but not as much as it had been a minute ago. Daisuke was there; everything always seemed easier when Daisuke was around, he thought fondly. 

"Thanks, mom! I'm coming out!" he called back in reply. Shaking off the dreaded feeling of morose depression that he'd been in, Ken opened the door and smiled largely when he found Daisuke standing on the other side of the door. "Dai-chan!" 

"Hi, Ken!" They hugged tightly and Daisuke sneaked a quick kiss to Ken's cheek, before Ken pushed back and allowed him into his room. Veemon stood at Daisuke's feet and followed his partner into the room. As Daisuke let Ken go he added, "You know, I gotta say, Ken, I will never get over the fact of how much better of a cook your mom is than mine. It must be so nice walking into a house every day that doesn't smell like something is burning. It's a miracle I'm interested in cooking at all, to be honest." 

Ken chuckled. "She has good and bad days, honestly. I just wish she wouldn't think I actually liked her lumpy mashed potatoes. Or any of the Western food she insists on cooking for that matter. I like Western food, just not when she cooks it." 

The room was around the same size as his previous room had been in Tamachi and still had a nice little balcony, but his bed was no longer up above, but now just a simple single bed. About seven large boxes took up the majority of the room and it appeared that most of Ken's belongings were still inside them. 

Daisuke nodded with a grin. "I'll take your word for it." He then glanced around the room and gave out a low whistle. "Man, Ken, I'd have thought by now you would be unpacked! Looks like you haven't even touched your stuff." 

Ken shrugged. "I haven't had the time. Between soccer practice, school, and helping my parents move and figure out where to put the furniture in living room, there isn't much time. I'm generally exhausted by the time I'm done with all that." 

Vemmon scanned the room, searching behind one of the said boxes. He looked up to Ken with large eyes. "Where's Wormmon?" 

Ken blinked and looked around the room as well. Before he could answer, there was a rustle of movement in one of the boxes in the corner of the room before the flap of the box flew up and out popped out Wormmon; his head and front pincers the only thing visible. 

He peered out at this with wide eyes. "There's so many boxes! So many places to explore!" he mumbled in wonder before he scuffled up out of the box to land on the carpeted floor next to Veemon. 

Ken chuckled and shook his head. 

Wormmon and Veemon plopped themselves down next to each other, beginning a quiet conversation between them. Ken and Daisuke just watched them fondly for a moment before turning their attention to each other. 

Daisuke was quick to frown though when he noticed Ken's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Hey, are you alright?" Veemon and Wormmon both looked up at his question. 

Ken blinked. "I'm fine. It's nothing." 

Daisuke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Oh, please. Every time you said 'it's nothing', that means, it's something." 

Ken raised his eyebrows and attempted to look affronted, but his small smile ruined it. "Alright then. It's nothing to worry about." 

Daisuke walked over to Ken's bed, walking around a couple boxes in the process, and flopped down onto it, making the bed bounce slightly. 

"You're not convincing me, babe." He then turned more serious. "It's not another one of your episodes, is it?" 

Ken quickly shook his head. "No, no! Nothing like that! I'm alright with that, I swear!" He walked over and sat himself next to Daisuke. 

"Episodes?" parroted Wormmon. 

"I'll explain later, I promise" assured Ken. Wormmon sagged a little and gave out a small whimper. To Daisuke he said, "I just---After what happened yesterday I've been a bit...out of sorts." 

Daisuke gave a half shrug and conceded to that. "I think we all are, to be honest." 

Ken nodded slowly and ran a hand through his hair. "Hikari and I....We both...heard something. Something that we haven't heard in a long time outside of our nightmares." He looked up and met Daisuke's gaze. "We both heard the waves of the Dark Ocean." 

Daisuke immediately sat up straighter, his look filled with concern. "You're not serious, are you?"

Ken looked away. "I'm afraid I am. It might just be nothing. It could just be all this triggering some dark memories but....the fact that Hikari heard it too has me worried." 

"Oh, Ken-chan. It's going to be okay. We're not going to let that terrible ocean get to you or anything or anyone inside it" declared Wormmon from where he was sitting on the floor next to Veemon. 

Ken turned and smiled down at his digimon partner fondly. "Thank you, Wormmon." 

Veemon grumbled for a moment before crouching and jumping high up into the air and landing into the unsuspecting arms of Daisuke, who shouted at the sudden assault. "Enough with the heavy boring drama! I wanna know what all I've missed! You guys haven't visitied in years and years---" 

"Two years, Vee. Two" deadpanned Daisuke. "And we told you, we didn't have a choice. The Gate wouldn't open for us." 

"Details! Details!" exclaimed Veemon flippantly. "Point is--I'm tired of hearing about all this distortion and Dark Ocean stuff! I wanna hear about YOU guys!" He hopped out of Daisuke's arms and landed back next to Wormmon, pointing a clawed finger at Ken and Daisuke. 

"It's true. I feel like I haven't had much time to chat with you, Ken-chan" mumbled Wormmon shyly as he fidgeted with his front pincers.  
Ken and Daisuke shared a look before turning back to them and laughing. 

"Well, alright, fine! What do you wanna know about?" 

Veemon shrugged. "Anything new? Ya know, just we don't already know about ya. Surely something's changed about you two that we don't know about. Like how much taller you guys are! Did you guys digivolve or something while we were away?" 

This caused both of their human partners to laugh. Daisuke shook his head. "Not really. Humans don't digivolve, but...we do grow up and change." He looked to Ken for back but ken just nodded and shrugged for him to continue. He turned back to the two digimon. "So, that's why we may seem different." 

"Bigger. You're bigger" deadpanned Veemon, which earned him more blushes and nervous chuckling. 

Then Daisuke's eyes lit up and he punched his fist into his other hand. "Oh! Duh!" he gestured to Ken. "Ken and I are dating!" 

Ken rolled his eyes. "I doubt they're going to understand what that means, Dai." 

Wormmon hummed. "Isn't that when two humans love each other?" Ken raised an amused eyebrow at him, causing him to duck his head shyly. "I watch that television box sometimes with your mom. That's what I gathered from the humans in the box." 

Ken pursed his lips together. "Hmm...I'm going to have to check and see exactly what my mom is watching, but you are correct." 

Daisuke laughed and wrapped an arm around Ken, pulling the taller teen close. "But anyways, yeah!" He kissed Ken on the cheek. "Ken's amazing, but I know you guys already know that! And the best part is---He loves me back!" 

Ken gave him a side look. "Or so he likes to think" he teased. Daisuke squawked and pushed him playfully away. 

Wormmon beamed up at them, his large eyes shining with happiness. "Oh, that makes me so happy! I've been so worried you were lonely, Ken!" Ken shook his head and smiled, clarifying that he was far from lonely. "So, my question is.....why are we here, Ken-chan? Why aren't we back at your apartment?" He gestured to the room and boxes around them. 

Ken's eyebrows rose as he raised a finger in the air. "Ahh, yes. Good question. Um, this actually IS my apartment." He glanced nervously at Daisuke before turning his eyes back to Wormmon. "Or rather, it's my new apartment. My parents and I moved away from Tamachi. We are now in Odaiba."  
"Oooh! No more hour long trips to visit you!?" demanded Veemon excitedly. 

Ken chuckled. "No more hour long trips." 

Daisuke wrapped an arm around Ken's shoulder and pulled him close, much to the taller teen's chagrin since the action nearly caused him to fall over. "It's amazing! Ken now lives across the street with me which means I get to see him all the time now!" 

Ken gave him a side look from where he was leaning against Daisuke. "You're implying we hadn't already spent a lot of time together." 

Daisuke laughed loudly at that. "True!" 

"Oh, but I liked your old room Ken-chan. It wasn't so.....cluttered..." sighed Wormmon as he looked around at all the boxes. "Not that I'm against your new decor choices, it's just.....There's so many places to explore and check out." 

Ken gestured to the boxes. "These boxes aren't staying. It's just until I find the time to unpack my stuff" he explained. 

Wormmon nodded. "Oh, good....." When he noticed the odd looks he was being given, he blushed and coiled in on himself. "I'm a caterpillar. I like small dark places. Besides, I have to constantly check for intruders in all these places. Oh, which reminds me--" 

Ken raised his eyebrows as Wormmon pointed a pincer at him. 

"I found a little corner full of spiders next to your closet" he pointed to Ken's closet. "But don't worry---I dealt with them. Their webs were very weak and fragile. Nothing compared to my own webs. They won't be coming back so your room is safe again" Wormmon finished triumphantly.  
Ken just stared down at him with an incredulous half smirk on his face while Daisuke leaned over and whispered, "You have a very strange digimon." 

Ken sighed and closed his eyes. "I know." 

There was a jingling sound as Daisuke's cell phone started buzzing and humming in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the screen. "Huh, it would seem we're having a meeting with the Chosen in an hour. Guess Koushiro has some information he wants to share with us." 

Ken's phone went off a moment later; replaying the same message. "Yeah, it would seem so. Well, let's go grab something to eat and head on over there, I guess." 

Daisuke nodded with a fond smile. 

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Tentomon hummed happily as he set the last of the drinks on the table, glancing around the office at all the Chosen who had gathered for the meeting. He made sure everyone had drinks and snacks while they waited for everyone to arrive. 

The office was spacious and very accommodating, with two long matching couches and loveseats. A long table was the centerpiece while Izzy's many monitors obscured most a good chunk of the window behind the large desk. 

Sora sighed as she set aside her cell phone and leaned back into the comfortable couch. "Matt isn't coming. He said something came up."  
Takeru shook his head. "That's doubtful" his said in a snickering voice. 

"Yeah, Jyou's not gonna be able to make it either" informed Koushiro from where he was standing. The light blush on his cheeks gave away just how nervous he was of having everyone there in his office. Taichi walked up next to him and gave him a side hug and small kiss on the cheek. 

Their digimon were also sitting around the room with them, gathered at the table where Koushiro and Tentomon had laid out plenty of snacks for them to munch on. Agumon sat at the head of the table, facing away from the door, shoving candy into his mouth. Taichi watched him and shook his head in disbelief. 

Iori and Miyako sat next to each other, their respective digimon sitting in front of them. Hikari and Takeru sat across from them.  
"So, this is yours now Izzy?" asked Hikari, her eyes scanning over the expanse of the office. 

"Yep! Not bad, huh?" chuckled Koushiro as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"Not bad at all" purred Taichi into his boyfriend's ear, making Koushiro fight the urge to squirm. "Though I'm not at all surprised. You deserve only the best, my sweet Izzy." 

A soft set of chimes went off throughout the office and Tentomon instantly set to flight, the hum of his wings replacing the sound of silence. "I'll get that!" He flew over to the door and tapped the intercom button with a claw. "Yessss? Who is it?" 

"It's Mimi, Daisuke, and Ken!" came Mimi's voice through the intercom. 

A moment later the combined voices of Veemon, Palmon, and Wormmon said over the intercom, "And their digimon!" 

Tentomon tapped the door so that it would open, the sliding glass doors giving a soft wooshing sound once the wooden side of the door was open. True to her word, Mimi stood on the other side of the doorway beaming at them. A pouty Daisuke stood behind her next to an amused Ken.  
"Don't worry, Daisuke, you can ring the doorbell next time" Ken was telling him in a comforting voice. Daisuke grumbled slightly but his attention was immediately drawn to the office. 

"Woah! This place rocks!" he exclaimed. 

"Woah! I love it! What is this place anyway?" Mimi asked as she set Palmon down from where she'd been holding her. 

Takeru walked up to her with a grin before gesturing to Koushiro. "It's Koushiro's office. Can you believe it?" 

"No way! Seriously!?" whistled Daisuke in awe. 

"Yeah, we'd never seen it before either!" Hikari smiled from where she was sitting on the couch. 

Koushiro nodded, his shoulders going up as Taichi wrapped an affectionate arm around him. "Yeah. I'm helping out a friend who's starting a new company." 

Daisuke glanced over at Ken to see his reaction and was shocked to find that Ken didn't look surprised in the slightest. "What's up, babe? You don't look the least bit impressed." 

Ken was quick to shake his head, not wanting to come off as arrogant. "No, no! It's not that!" He held on tighter to Wormmon in his arms. "It's just I've already seen this place, that's all." 

"You have?" inquired Iori. He'd been sitting quietly with Armadilliomon up until this point. 

Ken nodded as he set Wormmon down on the back of the couch, allowing the little caterpillar to make himself cozy. "Yes." He turned his dark eyes to the owner of the office. "Koushiro invited Miyako and me over to help him set up all of his hard drives and monitors. As you can imagine, it's a big job; especially for one person." He nodded towards both sides of the room where large giant hard drives stood working silently behind locked glass panels. 

Miyako beamed at the praise. "Yep! It was an honor, honestly! I know we've been friends for years, Koushiro, but I'll never forget how you were once---and still are---my idol whenever it comes to computers and technology!" 

Koushiro ducked his head bashfully. "Aww, thank you, Miyako." 

Taichi frowned, glancing back and forth between Koushiro and Ken. "Hold on a minute. You let Ken and Miyako know about this place before you even told me!? I didn't know about this place until today! All you told me was that you were 'working at the office'. How was I supposed to know you meant THIS place!?" He was on full pout mode as he turned his full attention on Koushiro. 

Koushiro, for his part, held his ground as a frown replaced his smile. "I didn't lie or hide anything from you, if that's what you're implying. I figured I would bring you here eventually. In my defense, I only finished setting everything up about a week ago." 

Hikari rolled her eyes. "It's not use, Koushiro. He's getting into one of his bratty modes which he'll never in a million years admit are like Yamato's own moods. Just ignore him. It's what I do." That earned several laughs from the group. 

"Har har" scowled Taichi at his little sister. "Just surprised me is all. And I'm not being bratty." 

"Fine, then. Childish and borderline petty" deadpanned Koushiro as he turned away from Taichi. "Now enough of that, let's get down to business."  
Taichi sat down in one of the chairs and began recalling everything that Mr. Nishijima had told them during their visit. Every now and then Iori spoke up to confirm the details. Once his explanation was done, he leaned back in his chair and clapped his hands together in his lap. "And, yeah, that's pretty much all the information Mr. Nishijima told us." 

Koushiro, who was still standing, placed a hand on his chin in thought. "Infected Digimon, huh? That's what they're calling them? That just leaves me with so many questions." 

"What makes them infected?" inquired Ken. "How are they any different from regular digimon?" 

Iori shrugged. "He didn't go into detail. Honestly, I was under the impression the entire time that even they don't fully know what's going on. They seem to be as confused as we are." 

Hikari shifted uncomfortably where she was sitting. "What I find strange is the fact that Gennai is in contact with them. Back when he helped us take out all those Control Spires that had appeared around the world, he had made it pretty clear that complete anonymity was essential. The Digital World was to stay a secret at all costs and now suddenly he's working with our government? That doesn't sit well with me." 

The room went quiet as everyone soaked that in. The digimon, quiet for once, just sat near their partners happily snacking on the food that had been provided. Veemon looked back at Daisuke even though it was an awkward angle on his neck and gave him a toothy smile. Daisuke reached down and scratched around his ears. 

It was Mimi who broke the silence. "So you're telling me that these infected digimon could come back at any time? That's pretty annoying."  
Sora reached down and ran a hand through Biymon's feathers. "I'm sure glad you and the other digimon have come to help us, Biymon." 

"We'll do anything you want so long as you always provide us with lots of delicious food!" declared Agumon. Taichi shook his head in amusement.  
Tentomon stomped his way over to where Koushiro was standing, his partner's precious laptop held tightly in his claws. "Koushiro, don't you think it's time to show everyone what you've come up with?" 

Koushiro's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! Good idea! Let's do it." 

Tentomon scanned his eyes over his fellow digimon before choosing two of them. "Okay! You two, come with me!" Everyone watched as Tentomon grabbed Veemon and Hawkmon and began pulling them over to the laptop that he had set open on the floor. "One, two, three. In you gooo~~!" He half sang. Veemon and Hawkmon were pushed into the screen of the laptop and after a bright light, were pushed inside it. 

Daisuke and Miyako both cried out in alarm but it was Miyako who voiced her concern. "Hey! Where'd you just send them!? I thought the Digital Gate was closed!" 

Tentomon raised a claw in a pacifying way. "Oh, the Digital Gate IS closed. But no need to worry---They're riiiiight there!" He turned away and grabbed a television remote and turned on a large flat screen that has mounted on the wall. 

Everyone stood and peered at the television screen in curiosity. There appeared to be a room inside the monitor that didn't look terribly far off from the landscape of Primary Village, with basic pastel colored blocks in the background and along the walls. A moment later Veemon and Hawkmon leaned in and took in the whole screen, waving and laughing to prove just how safe and alright they were. 

Koushiro grinned at their perplexed expressions. He sat down at his large desk that was covered in computer monitors. "Check it out! I thought our digimon should have a place they could escape to in an emergency. So I created a secure virtual cyberspace on my server here." 

"So it's a bit like that time we went to that pocket dimension with Owikawa after BlackWarGreymon sealed the Digital Gate, am I correct?" Ken wanted to know. He watched as Wormmon stepped into the laptop screen and entered the cyberspace. A moment later, Wormmon appeared on the screen. 

"Only without all the freaky stuff" mumbled Takeru. 

Koushiro nodded. "Precisely. I replicated the same principle that we used to enter the Digital World with our D-3s and applied it to the cyberspace. The only difference is, we ourselves can't enter the cyberspace like we could the Digital World, but that wasn't the purpose of it anyway." 

Someone's cell phone started ringing. Daisuke pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked it. "Hey, I think I just got a text from Veemon."  
Koushiro nodded. "You did. You can communicate with them by texting or by talking to them directly through a monitor." 

Taichi shook his head in awe. He walked up behind where Koushiro was sitting at his desk and whispered into his ear, "You're such an amazing little genius." Koushiro's face turned nearly as red as his hair as he looked back up at Taichi with a gentle smile. 

All the digimon were now inside the cyberspace chatting and waving happily at them. Sora walked up the screen, watching as Biyomon waved at her. 

"Well, hold on, they can come back out, right?" she asked with concern. 

Instead of waiting for an answer, Biyomon pushed her way through the television screen and after a brief light, she was landing in Sora's arms. "Sure can! Easy-peasy!" 

"Shame we couldn't summon them with our cell phones too and not just text them" commented Miyako as she glanced at her own cell phone.  
"Why couldn't we?" asked Iori. 

"Not enough processing speed, am I right, Koushiro?" Miyako responded. She looked up at the red headed genius for confirmation. 

Koushiro hummed in agreement. "Correct, but they can easily come in and out of the virtual cyberspace through a large monitor connected to a network, as long as a specify which one." 

Ken walked up to the screen and held his arms out to catch Wormmon. The little caterpillar jumped and landed safely in his arms. Wormmon looked up at Ken and wiggled in excitement. "Now I can be with you all the time, Ken-chan. Even when I'm not actually there." Ken softly snorted at the strange use of words, but he knew what Wormmon meant. 

Patamon giggled as he flew out of the screen and landed on Takeru's fedora hat. Takeru adjusted his hat and asked, "So, then, we can summon them at any time?"

"Precisely" concluded Koushiro. "They'll either be here in this office or in the secure virtual cyberspace."

Daisuke's phone went off again and he grunted in exasperation when he saw that it was another text from Veemon. He narrowed his eyes and looked up at the screen where Veemon was innocently smiling and waving at him. "Vee, this is great thing and all, but you'd better not start spamming me with texts all the time." 

Veemon looked affronted and his voice was slightly muffled since he was in the cyberspace. "Me!? Never!" His laughter thought only confirmed that there was a good chance he would. 

Everyone laughed. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"So, I take it nothing's changed between you and Taichi, huh? Since you didn't show up at Koushiro's meeting today." began Takeru conversationally as the two of them walked into the dressing room; Gabumon walking faithfully next to Yamato while Patamon was on his usual spot on Takeru's head. The building they were in was an older theater that the owner was allowing Yamato and his band spend time in since he truly enjoyed their music. "When are you guys gonna call a truce and work things out? Pouting about it is not helping."

Yamato glared at his younger brother as he set his duffel bag on the floor. "I'm not pouting." 

Takeru shrugged. "If you say so, anyways, we're all planning on meeting up again on Saturday. You'd better come this time. The last thing we need right now is to be fighting each other. What if Kuwagamon comes back again? Or an even worse digimon?"

Yamato crossed his arms, clearly not wanting to talk about his absence at the meeting. "Ugh, speaking of Kuwagamon, him and those stupid distortions are the worst. Canceling my band's gig is a major downer" growled Yamato as he changed the subject. He sat himself down and pulled out his guitar, instantly pulling at the strings to make himself feel better. 

Gabumon stomped his way near Yamato after shutting the door behind them. "I'm really glad to see that you haven't given up on your music, Matt" rumbled Gabumon in his deep voice. Yamato smiled at the nickname is digimon partner used, remembering fondly when he had told Gabumon he could call him that. 

"Never" vowed Yamato with confidence. 

Takeru plopped down onto one of the chairs of the dressing room with a sigh. The younger teen glanced at his phone, swiping at the screen. "So, mom is even more obsessed with her job, now, if that's even possible" began Takeru casually. 

Yamato was sitting several chairs away from him and plucking away from his guitar. Without looking up from where he was staring off into space at the floor, he asked, "When is she not obsessed with her job?" 

Takeru shrugged. "Fair point. I still say you and I need to just move in together and let them stay somewhere together. It's not like they would have to see each other, since neither of them are ever home." 

Yamato scoffed, finally leaning back into his chair and setting his guitar aside. "Funny." 

Patamon, who was sitting on top of Takeru's head, flapping his wings a bit to stretch them. "You're parents still don't get along?" 

Takeru chuckled. "No. I don't they ever will. It's why they separated when we were kids. Just as well. It didn't bother my relationship with my brother." He peered over at Yamato. "Our love for each other still holds out strong and true." He laughed at the glare his brother shot his way. 

"Cut it out" groused Yamato. 

Gabumon sighed contentedly from where he was sitting on the floor next to Yamato. "So, Yamato, what do you think about everything that's been going on? Besides being completely furious about it." 

Yamato glanced down at his partner with a raised eyebrow. "I made my feelings about what's going on perfectly clear at the meeting. I shouldn't have to clarify anything. This whole thing is pissing me off and Taichi certainly doesn't look like he's about to do anything about it either."  
Takeru, playing the role of pacifest, gave his brother a wan smile. "To be fair, we don't exactly have a whole lot to work with. Those distortions aren't exactly something we can predict. At least not until Koushiro is able to figure them out; which I'm sure he will. I'm sure he's working on a way to understand these distortions and once he does, then we can go from there." 

"Yeah, but what pisses me off is Taichi's lack of comment or concern in regards to what all the news casters are saying about our digimon!" grumbled Yamato as he turned in his chair to look over his book of music notes. 

"Yeah, because Taichi is suddenly in charge of what airs on the tv and the opinions of everyone in the city. Look, Yamato, there's not a whole lot we can do about that. You had dad file a complaint, but that's not going to change anyone's attitudes about any of it" Takeru pointed out.  
Yamato scoffed and looked away with a scowl. 

"What I want to know is what was wrong with Jyou at the meeting" confessed Gabumon; changing the subject.  
"Yeah! Me too! He certainly didn't seem very happy to be there with us!" piped up Patamon. 

Yamato rolled his eyes at the mention of Jyou. He began packing up his guitar by starting with the case for it. "Beats me. I haven't a clue as to what his problem is. Sounds to me like he bit off more than he can chew with that doctor stuff and now he's whining about it." He opened up the guitar case and gently set his precious instrument inside the velvet lining. 

Takeru stood up and started helping his brother by collapsing his guitar's stand. "That's a bit harsh, brother. Jyou's dreamt of being a doctor for years now and he knew from the get-go that it would be a lot of work. I'm sure he's just under a lot of stress." 

Yamato's face heated and the older teen couldn't fathom why. He looked down, focusing on closing his guitar case and locking it. "Still not a good excuse to verbally attack me the way he did. He works hard, sure, and he's nearly as smart as Koushiro when it comes to anything medical, but to insinuate that my career choice isn't as good as his is a low blow." 

Takeru glanced up at his brother with a frown, uncertain of what to say next. It wasn't uncommon for Yamato to get into a disagreement with one of them, but there was a dreading pit in his stomach that said this was different than usual. 

Yamato set down his guitar and sighed heavily, his eyes half mast as he stared off into space. 

Glancing up at his partner worriedly, Gabumon spoke up, "What's really wrong, Matt? Come on. It's us. You can tell us anything." 

Yamato leaned back into his face until his head was tilted up towards the ceiling. "It's Taichi. And Jyou.....And most likely everyone else in some way.....They're all changing..." 

Takeru leaned back in his own chair and crossed his arms. "You act as though that's a bad thing. I mean, no reason to beat around the bush, brother, but we're growing up. We're not eleven years old anymore. We're bound to react and handle things differently than we did back then." 

Yamato growled deep in his throat sat back up properly in his chair, glaring at his younger brother. "I know that! But there's more to it than that!"  
Silence filled the room. 

"I don't know what you're expecting from any of us, Yamato, but I think it's about time you start to figure it out" declared Takeru in a voice that held no room for argument. He stood up and headed over to the door, a concerned Patamon clutching tightly onto his fedora hat. He turned back to Yamato. "This sounds more like a personal issue you need to figure out yourself. Now, whenever you're done throwing a pity party for yourself and done hating on Taichi and Jyou, shoot me a text. I'm gonna go get some food. Good luck with practice. Later." 

He'd spoken all so quickly that Yamato hadn't had a chance to intervene; forced to watch his brother go. He grunted and crossed his arms, making a point not to notice Gabumon's unimpressed glare he was being given. 

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Iori bowed after taking his shoes off at the front door of the Kido Household. "Thank you for allowing me and Armadillomon inside, Mrs. Kido."  
Mrs. Kido laughed politely. "Oh, you're too sweet, Iori. You know you're more than welcome to come over at any time. You also know I'm very well aware of the digimon you and Jyou and your friends have. I don't mind it. But I'm afraid that Jyou is rather busy with his studies. I'm not too sure he's up for having any company over." She gestured for him to walk with her as they ventured further into the apartment. 

"Does he really have that heavy of a work load this semester?" inquired Iori. They stopped inside the living room; Jyou's bedroom door on the other side of the room. Armadillomon scooted closer to Iori's feet; being mindful not to knock anything over. 

Mrs. Kido worried her lip as she glanced over at Jyou's door. "Well, that's just the thing. His semester isn't actually that busy this year. He's taking less classes than usual. The problem is that he has to take exam after exam. He has to pass them in order to get an internship at the hospital. They only select the top ten students, so he's working extra hard to qualify." 

Iori nodded in understanding. "I see. I couldn't even fathom having to go through all that." 

Mrs. Kido nodded. "Yes. So, please try not to be too hard on him if he doesn't have to time to hang out." 

Iori's eyes widened as his hands went up to pacify her. "Oh! No, no! That's not why I'm here! I completely understand that he's busy! I'm just worried about him and I wanted to check and see if he was alright." 

Mrs. Kido smiled. "That's so sweet of you. I'm glad Jyou has such kind friends. Well, I'll leave you be. Just holler if you need anything!" She walked away with a happy hum and set off to the kitchen. 

Iori watched her go before glancing down at Amardillomon. 

"Whad'ya lookin' at me for? Go on, now Iori. Knock on the door" beamed his partner. 

Iori nodded and did just that. After three firm knocks on the door, he waited for an answer. 

"It's open!" came the happy and exuberant voice of Gomamon from the other side of the door. 

Iori twisted the doorknob and pushed, slowly opening the door. He peered inside and saw that Jyou was busy typing away at his laptop, occasionally glancing over to a paper on his left. He must have been writing some type of essay, by the looks of it. Notes and papers were all over Jyou's desk. 

"Oh, hey! It's Iori and Armadillomon!" cried out Gomamon as he scrambled off his little pillow to greet them. "Hi guys!" 

"Hi, Gomamon!" greeted Iori. 

"Heyo!" was Armaillomon's greeting. 

Iori's eyes turned up to where Jyou was sitting. The older Chosen hadn't even so much as flinched at their arrival; seemingly unaware that they were there. Jyou just continued to read through his notes and type them up, muttering to himself about punctuation and grammar. 

Iori frowned. "Um, hi Jyou" he called over. 

Gomamon shook his head at his partner's antics. "I'm afraid Jyou isn't much company these days. He's so lost in his own world." 

"Does he even know that YOU are here?" asked Armadillomon. 

Gomamon shot him a wry smile and raised a fin in a half shrug manner. "Well, yeah. He knows I'M here, silly. But he's not one for much talking."  
Iori sighed and shook his head. He walked over to Jyou and tapped him on the shoulder. "Jyou?" 

Finally a response as Jyou startled and turned in his swivel chair to see his friend. "Iori! What are you doing here?!" 

Iori didn't like that greeting. "I'm here to see how you're doing." 

Jyou blinked at him and turned to see Armadillomon and Gomamon peering up at him expectantly. "Oh. Um, well hi, I guess..." He nervously scratched at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry though, but I don't have any time for company." 

Iori's dark eyes narrowed. "Not even twenty minutes to talk to a friend?" 

Jyou looked away and turned in his chair back to his laptop. "No, Iori. Not even twenty minutes. I have two essays to write and I have to figure out those math equations, and I have two exams to study for." 

Iori glanced down at Gomamon who was back to sitting on his pillow. The little mon's eyes were half mast and his expression was sad and morose. It seemed wrong to see such a happy-go-lucky digimon like Gomamon to look so depressed. 

"Sounds like a pretty lonely life to not have twenty minutes for a friendly chat" commented Iori, unable to keep the hurt and bitterness out of his voice. 

Jyou obviously heard the tone for he slammed the pencil he'd been holding back down on top of his notes and angrily whirled back around in his chair to glare accusingly at Iori. "Belittle me all you want, Iori, but some of us actually have lives to live! You know that thing called reality? Yeah, well I'm living in it! Not all of us have the time to hang with friends--We're too busy trying to figure out the rest of our lives! I'm trying to build my future by getting my Master's and Doctorine! I want to be a doctor someday, Iori! News flash! That doesn't happen over night like it some career choices!" 

"Oh, you mean like Yamato's life choice?" snapped Iori. 

Jyou's confidence immediately vanished as he sank further into his chair; refusing to make eye contact. 

"You really upset Yamato with your comment, you know. That's part of the reason I'm here" explained Iori. 

Jyou rolled his eyes in an attempt to be nonchalant but Iori could have sworn he saw the tiniest blush form on the other's cheeks. "Pfft. The color of the sky sometimes upsets him" he scoffed. 

Iori nodded amendably, knowing his friend was right. "Heh, yeah, that's for sure. But seriously Jyou, is that really what you think? Do you think you're the only one who's working for their career? For their dream?" He paused, waiting to see if Jyou would answer. When Jyou said nothing, he continued. "Jyou, you're the oldest Chosen in our group. It only makes sense that you're the first to have the heaviest work load. But don't blame us for not choosing to all be doctors. It's not Yamato's fault that he doesn't have to take years and years of college and med school to achieve his dream. We understand more than you're giving us credit for, but Jyou, blocking us out isn't going to make things any better." 

Gomamon was staring at Iori in awe and was quick to pipe in. "Yeah, Jyou! That's what I've been trying to tell you! It's not healthy being cooped up inside worrying over your school work the way you do!" 

Jyou gave a grunt of frustration. "Yes, but I HAVE TO! You guys don't understand the pressure I'm under! Despite how hard I work I still don't get the grades I need to excel! I have to study as much as I am otherwise it'll all be for nothing! And if Yamato's upset with me---then---" His words got caught in his throat and he looked down, his bangs hiding his face. 

"But what, Jyou? What does Yamato have to do with all this? You singled him out at the meeting and now you're singling him out again. Why?" pressed Iori. 

Silence filled the room and Iori, Armadillomon, and Gomamon all waited on baited breath for a repsonce. Jyou's shoulders began to shake and for a moment Iori wondered if he was crying, but when Jyou finally looked up his eyes were dry, if not slightly red. "I have my reasons" was all he said. "Such as how Yamato seems so entitled to know it all. He throws tantrums left and right and always gets his way afterwards. He's musically gifted and the music and lyrics just come so naturally to him and listening to his music just makes the world seem brighter..."  
Iori blinked. "Umm....Jyou?" 

Jyou carried on as though Iori hadn't said anything. "He's the most bueatiful, talented, charasmatic person I've ever met and yet there he is, whining and throwing fits, and doing anything short of drinking and drugs---which is something we all fear he'll get into someday if he doesn't watch himself--I just get so frustrated by how easy he has it and yet out of all of us, he's usually the one complaining! He's complaining about all this new digimon stuff happening and furious at even the suggestion that some of us may have other things better to do than go around saving the world from these digital monsters!" His voice had raised higher and louder the more he spoke until he was nearly shouting.  
Iori and the two digimon could only gape at him in shock; so much information having been said at once. 

Jyou was left panting, his shoulders shaking, after his rant. After a moment, he pushed back his bangs and breathed in heavily before letting it out. It was then he noticed the wide eyed looks coming from his friends. "What?" 

Iori blinked, having no idea where to start. "Jyou, is that really how you feel? About---About everything?" 

Jyou crossed his arms and looked away, not answering. 

"Jyou, if I'm such a bother, maybe I just shouldn't be here anymore" suggested Gomamon, his eyes starting to water and his ears drooped. 

Jyou was quick to step forward and shake his hands out in a negative. "No, no! That's not what I meant! I love having you here, Gomamon, honest! It's just having to save the world--That's all! Why should it be up to us!?" 

"Because we're Chosen. We were the Chosen Ones picked to save the Digital World" replied Iori matter of factly. "But that's not all you said. Do you really feel that way....about Yamato?" 

Jyou's face went beet red. He struggled for words and when he finally composed himself enough to speak, he asked quietly, "Iori, can you keep a secret?"

Iori perked up with curiosity at the question. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It was the morning of Saturday that found the group of Chosen Children all gathered around the docks of the shopping center on the bright and sunny day. 

Miyako stretched her arms up high and groaned before happily bouncing at her feet and turning to her friends. "What a gorgeous day! I'm glad we decided to meet here instead of inside! I love your office Koushiro, but on a day like todayl, it'd be far too stuffy!" 

Mimi nodded beside her. "Oh, I completely agree!" She glanced around at everyone who had come. "So, I guess Yamato is still sulking and Jyou is still in hiding then?" 

Iori frowned, his eyes going half mast. "Jyou has a lot on his mind right now. I went to go talk to him after the meeting the other night. He's very stressed out." 

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Sora with concern. "Is he eating? I know he stops eating whenever he's overly stressed like that. I could take him over some baked goods for him" offered Sora with worry. 

Iori wondered if that would be alright, remembering his own cold reception that Jyou had given him when he'd stopped by. It still hurt a bit to know that Jyou hadn't been pleased to see Iori when he'd gotten there. Yet after their talk, Iori understood a little better of what was going on. Iori still didn't like it. He looked back up to Sora. "I'm sure he would appreciate it, but he'll probably say the same thing to you that he did to me and that's that he doesn't have time to socialize." 

Sora frowned at that, along with everyone else. 

Daisuke scratched the back of his neck with a half frown, half pout. "Man, if anything kept me too busy to see my friends, I'd quit doing it. I'd go mad without fun." Ken leaned over and whispered something into his ear and though no one knew what he said, they got to watch Daisuke's face go red, making them chuckle. 

Koushiro cleared his throat in an attempt to grab everyone's attention and they all gathered around and Koushiro They could see that he was holding tightly to his latest project in his hands. 

"Umm.....Koushiro?" Are you alright? You look like a zombie" commented Hikari with concern. 

It was true, Koushiro's eyes were red and slightly bloodshot and the bags under his eyes were a deep purple. The red headed genius also had a slight tremor in his hand which could only have been caused by lack of sleep and way too much oolong tea. Which was most likely the case, knowing their friend. 

Taichi sighed. "I told you to go to bed last night when I called. You obviously didn't." The accusation was light hearted enough that Koushiro didn't seem worried that his boyfriend was angry, but he still made sure to give Taichi a bashful and guilt ridden smile. Taichi only shook his head and ran a hand through Koushiro's hair. 

Koushiro fiddled with item in his hands. "I'm alright. I slept a little bit, I swear." He tried to give Taichi a convincing look but Taichi was clearly not buying it. "What I was working on couldn't wait! I finally finished these!" He held up what appeared to be the same type of goggles that both Taichi and Daisuke once wore constantly on their heads as kids. 

"Heeey, those look neat!" praised Daisuke as he leaned in for a closer look. "Man, I need to start wearing goggles again!" 

"No, you don't" snapped Ken lightly, shaking his head against the idea with a grin. 

Koushiro was quick to gain back everyone's attention by raising the goggles higher for them all to see. "Try them, Tai." He turned to Taichi and handed them to him. 

Taichi blinked at them in wonder before mumbling, "Oh, yeah. Sure." THey all watched as he put the goggles on over his head before adjusting them over his eyes. 

Koushiro began his explaination. "If my calculations are correct, the goggles should let you see the wave length distortions. You should be seeing different colored lines sifting and passing by everywhere you look." 

Taichi nodded as he scanned the area past his friends and nodded. "Yeah, I do. These are even better than my old goggles!" 

"Now what, Koushiro?" asked Sora. 

Koushiro smiled. "Let's text the goggles. My research shows that the wavelength distortions are easiest to see when there's a lot of data. So, Tai should be able to see the data flow when he puts the goggles on. The different colored streams represent different types of data and how strong they are."

"That's genius, Koushiro!" exclaimed Ken. "If you don't mind, I'd like to come over some time so that you can show me how you made them!"  
"Ohh, yeah! Me too!" chirped Miyako in ecitement. 

Koushiro beamed at them both. "I'd love to! We'll find some time to do that eventually, I'm sure." He pulled out his laptop and began typing away before speaking to Taichi again. "Now, when I connect the goggles to my server like this, you should see even more streams." 

Taichi continued to look around and began to see more streams just like Koushiro had predicted. "Woah, you're right! Now's there's more streams. And the colors are brighter." 

"The red streams are the ones that match up the closest with the big distortions. And those are the ones we think the infected digimon are coming through, so tracking the red streams may tell us when they're coming" The Bearer of Knowledge continued. 

Hikari nodded. "Yeah, that would most dinfitely help." She gave Takeru a wan smile who was quick to return it. 

"This open area should be a good place to test that theory. Let's see if Taichi spots any distortions that look like they might be dangerous" suggested Koushiro as he shut his laptop. He placed it safely in laptop bag. 

The group fo friends began walking along the outer walkway of the shopping center for several minutes, all chattering and holding their own conversations. It had been so long since such a large group of them had all hung out at once and even though the circumstances weren't too great, none of them were complaining. 

Daisuke was in the middle of saying something to Ken when he noticed the dark haired teen's eyes had wondered off somewhere passed him. 

Daisuke blinked and turned to see what Ken was looking at. 

Several yards away from them stoof a girl their age, looking frantically back and forth uncertainly. She had long dark indigo hair that went past her elbows and glasses on her pale face. 

Daisuke turned back to Ken. "Do you know her, babe?" At this point, Daisuke's question had gained everyone's attention. 

Not taking her eyes off Meiko, Ken shrugged. "Sorta. We met in the school office when I dropped off my signed transfer papers. She'd been in line in front of me. Her nme is Meiko, if I remember correctly." 

Mimi cooed at the recollection. "Oh! You know, I do recall seeing her leave the office before I popped in. She ran off though before I could say hello." Ken nodded; remembering. "She looks a bit lost." 

Ken turned to her and began walking over. "Hey, Meiko! Are you lost? Maybe we can help you." 

Mieko started at the call of her name and squeaked when she saw Ken and Mimi walking over to her. She raised a hand to her chin and glanced downwards. She quickly bowed out of politeness before answering, "Well, in fact, you're right. I was looking for somehting, but I ended up just getting lost myself." 

"What a coincidence! We just happen to be looking for something oursleves! Maybe we can help each other out!" suggested Mimi.  
Ken nodded. "Yeah, join us! You can meet my friends." 

Meiko glanced over at all the other Chosen and gave a small, shy wave before taking a step back. "Thank you, Ken-senpai, but what I'm trying to find, I really should find by myself." 

Ken frowned. "Senpai? You don't have to call me that. Just 'Ken' works. I told you, we can be friends. You can meet all my friends. They're all really nice and they'll love you." 

Meiko sighed, taking another step back. "Must be nice to have so many friends" she mumbled. Louder she added, "Thank you, Ken-sen---I mean, Ken, but I must go." 

Ken watched her go reluctantly and it was Mimi who placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"It's alright, Ken. You tried. Maybe she's just shy" soothed Mimi. "Though I do worry, I hope she comes around. She seems to sweet." Hikari, Miyako, and Sora all nodded in agreement. 

"Try not to take it to heart, Ken. Mimi's right! She's probably just shy. Remember how shy you were when you first started hanging out with us? It takes time" smiled Takeru. 

Ken nodded. "Yeah, you're right." 

Daisuke walked up next to him and placed an arm over his shoulders. "Come on, babe, she'll come around when she's ready. No need to be so worried." 

Everyone began walking in the other direction; Koushiro and Taichi still wrapped in discussing the goggles. As they walked, Daisuke leaned further in towards Ken and whispered, "You okay?" 

Ken nodded. "I am. Something she said just took me back to a darker time." He looked up to see Daisuke's worried look and clarified. "She just reminded me of the time when I didn't have any friends. She made it sound almost as though she didn't have any and I remember back when I was in that place. Zero friends, no self esteem---It was before we had Jogressed for the first time." 

Daisuke grinned widely at the memory, remembering perfectly. How could he not? It was the day he became connected to Ken. "I told you when things got tough you could hang with your friends. You snapped back at me that you didn't happen to have any friends." He grabbed Ken's hand and kissed it. "Then it happened. We Jogressed. And you gained me as a life long friend." 

Ken smiled fondly at him. "The best thing that ever happened to me." 

"Heh! And don't you forget it!" snickered Daisuke. He then pulled Ken along since they had gotten left behind by their friends who had kept up their faster pace. "Come on! If Meiko is meant to be our friend, she will be! Now come on, babe!"

Ken shook his head with a find smile as he followed along. 

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